Lottery by Patricia Wood

Perry L. Crandall is 37 years old and he is not retarded. In the Reader's Digest, he learned that 75 or less is your number if you are retarded and his number is 76. His gram, who he has always lived with, says he is just slow and slow and steady wins the race. She also says the L in his name stands for lucky which turns out to be true since he wins the Washington State Lottery. This brings out a few too many cousin-brothers who wanted nothing to do with him when it might have meant that they would share in his care but are all about family now that they might share in his wealth. Fortunately he has made a few very good friends who do what they can to protect him and his money. In the end, he proves that IQ can often be irrelevant to wisdom and a few simple lessons about how to live a true and honest life may be all you need for success and happiness. That is echt (look it up). This is a happy book and worthy of comment from all the educators in the group.