In Three Times Lucky, Mo may not have the most traditional family, but she has the best one that she can imagine. She lives with the Colonel and Miss Lana, and though none of them are related by blood, Mo feels safe and loved with them—though she still really wants to find her birth mother. Throughout the book, she writes to her upstream mother with the hope that she'll write back, but never receives a response. By the end, though, Mo realizes that she doesn't have to go looking elsewhere for a "real" family. This family is as real as family gets.
Questions About Family
- Why does Mo want to find her upstream mother so badly? Be sure to use the text to defend your answer.
- How does Dale react to Mo's search for her mother? Why? Does his own family dynamic influence him at all?
- Are the Colonel and Miss Lana good parents? Why or why not?
Chew on This
Mo spends the whole book searching for her upstream mother just to realize at the end that her real family has been here all along. She belongs with the Colonel and Miss Lana.
Dale is constantly annoyed with Mo's search for her upstream mother not because he's tired of hearing it, but because he's envious that she already has a nice, caring family while he has an abusive father.