Three Times Lucky Analysis

Literary Devices in Three Times Lucky

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

Setting

The entirety of Three Times Lucky takes place in the made-up small town of Tupelo Landing in North Carolina. It's a distinctly Southern setting, and the small-town aspect of it makes so that the co...

Narrator Point of View

Three Times Lucky is told from the perspective of Moses "Mo" LoBeau, a kid from the small town of Tupelo Landing, North Carolina. Mo blew into town during a hurricane, which is fitting since she ha...

Genre

Young Adult Literature Three Times Lucky is definitely geared toward younger readers. It's a murder mystery that could easily focus on any one of the many adult players in the book, but instead it'...

Tone

Because Three Times Lucky is told entirely from Mo LoBeau's perspective, the tone is decidedly spunky. Mo has an opinion on everyone… and she usually says what she thinks. For example, her descri...

Writing Style

The writing style in Three Times Lucky definitely takes into account the book's Southern setting, and this comes through especially in the dialogue between characters. There's a lot of "yes ma'am"...

What's Up With the Title?

The book's title of Three Times Lucky refers to a passage in which Mo talks about her origin story and how she came to live in Tupelo Landing: Some say I was born unlucky that night. Not me. I say...

What's Up With the Ending?

There are three things that are resolved at the end of Three Times Lucky—the murder, the mystery of the Colonel's origins, and Mo's desire to find her "upstream mother." The police arrest Robert...

Tough-o-Meter

The language in Three Times Lucky is pretty simple and easy to follow—after all, it is told from the perspective of an eleven-year-old girl. Sure, you have to get used to her unique voice (Mo liv...

Plot Analysis

A New Sheriff in Town Everything is hunky dory in Tupelo Landing, a small southern town that readers are introduced to through the eyes of a scrappy eleven-year-old named Mo, who has a nontradition...

Trivia

Apparently Sheila Turnage decided that she wanted to be a writer all the way back in the first grade when her teacher invited her to read her story to some beastly third graders. (Source)Turnage do...

Steaminess Rating

Three Times Lucky is as clean as a whistle when it comes to romance and passion. The whole book is told from the perspective of eleven-year-old Mo, who is pretty innocent when it comes to all that...