The Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt

Hunt, Irene. (1976). The Lottery Rose. New York: Scribners

This book is recommended for children at least at the middle school level. The Lottery Rose is a wonderously touching novel that tells the story of seven year old Georgie Burgess. Georgie is being raised by an alcoholic mother and her abusive boyfriend. Georgie does terrible things at school and is considered a deviant. After a horrible beating Georgie is taken away from his mother and put in foster care. Eventually, Georgie is sent to a boy's school where through much pain he begins to learn to love and behave. Throughout this whole novel there is an underlying symbolism of a rosebush. Georgie wins a rosebush in a grocery store lottery while he is still living with his mother. The bush is the first thing that Georgie has ever loved and owned. He vows to take care of the bush, even after his placement in the boy's home. Georgie soon discovers that that might be easier said than done. This novel is historical fiction and truly represents the mindset of many during the seventies. Georgie is labeled as retarded, a word clearly not used any more. This book is not recommended for younger readers because the images that are created can be quite graphic. I did, however, use this book as a whole class novel because this book teaches so many important lessons. This novel is about life. Readers learn how to overcome obstacles, how to forgive, how to move on. I have found that the students truly root for Georgie, even those students who usually hate reading. I have not been able to find a good video of this novel, however, the audio version is available.