The Unsinkable Lucy

About the Book

A local reading resource specialist determined that the reading level for The Unsinkable Lucy would be suitable for children in the higher third grade to lower fourth grade reading levels. Lucy’s struggles with life are equal to that of us humans. The story is about how a miniature poodle named Lucy copes with the disappearances (i.e. deaths) of her first owners that occurred three years apart. She shows the reader her journey of survival through the many changes she experiences in her young life. Lucy’s book can be considered a “concept” story that unfolds through the thoughts and feelings of Lucy while she tries to grasp life through a wide range of emotions that go from love, happiness, loneliness, grief, anger, self-pity, fear, frustration, and eventually, all the way back to love and happiness. The author’s aspiration for writing this book was that it be used by either the family or the classroom as a teaching tool to openly discuss the various emotional ups and downs all children have at one time or another in their lives. The word “unsinkable” was chosen because nothing, but nothing, could make Lucy continue a life of self pity; instead, she went forward, looking around each corner for a better way of life and she eventually found it! We love Lucy and we hope you will, too.

About the Author

This is Judith Knox Peck Burnette’s first published children’s novel. Born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut, this Connecticut Yankee attended public schools and graduated from Elmira College. After graduation most of her professional career was served in the arena of Social Service and the Criminal Justice System. In 1988 she and her husband, J.D., a retired police detective, moved to California’s Central Valley. From 1989 to 2001, when she retired, she was general manager and staff writer at a weekly community newspaper, The Hilmar Times. Her own original articles were published in this paper and in some of the other seven weekly newspapers owned by Mid Valley Publications, Inc. of Winton, California. She also had her own column called “Getting to Know You,” in which she highlighted the lives of community residents. For several years she was a member of a local writers support group and a member of the Christian Writers Fellowship International, an online support group. Currently, she is a member of the Writer’s Digest Book Club, the Institute of Children’s Literature and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She has attended writers’ workshops and conferences in the area. The Burnettes have been “parents” to two small poodles. The author, thus, felt she had the “experience” in “parenting” that included frustration, joy, love, pride, heartache, and, yes, grief, all of which are revealed in this book. Thank you for reading The Unsinkable Lucy. May it possibly help you to understand what goes on behind your pet’s eyes.