Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Saunders
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Fun lottery ticket quest tale explores race, class issues.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
When JACKPOT opens, 17-year-old Rico is working at the Gas 'N' Go on Christmas Eve. Her family is living on the edge. Between her job and her mother's, the family is barely making rent in the neighborhood where they live for the good schools. Rico sells three lottery tickets. One of those tickets wins, but the winnings aren't claimed. Rico figures if she informs the winner, that person might give her a reward. Her classmate Zan, son of a wealthy family that makes toilet paper products, was kicked out of his last school for hacking, so Rico enlists him to hack the Gas 'N' Go security camera to get license plate numbers she can use to track down the ticket buyers. He agrees. As they try to track down the winners, Rico and Zan become friends. Rico's life expands, not just from knowing Zan, but also because she breaks out of her pattern of work-school-sleep.
Is It Any Good?
This is a fun page-turner that's best suited for mature readers due to the social and moral complexities the author presents. Jackpot doesn't shy away from the tougher issues about class in the United States. She shows us a world where race and class issues intersect, but where class mostly trumps race. The poor family is hardworking and diligent, with no addictions or other problems that would have caused their poverty. Wealthy men abandon their girlfriends (Black and White) and their children -- one with hush money, one without. And the character who is an heir to a fortune feels trapped and bored in a family that's loaded him with expectations. Rico and Zan's pursuit of the lottery ticket leads them to a few scams and even to the brink of committing a crime. It's not a story of heroes -- it's about how people experience that fine line between desperation and hope.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the characters in Jackpot struggle with choices about money -- how to get it and what to do with it. How do their different values affect their choices, and how do their choices help or harm them?
The author experiments with chapters narrated by inanimate objects, including a Lego robot, fancy sheets, paper money, and that elusive lottery ticket itself. Did you enjoy those chapters? What do you think the author was trying to accomplish?
Have you ever faced a moral decision related to money? How did it turn out?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Romance
- Topics : Adventures , Friendship , School ( High School )
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Crown Books for Young Readers
- Publication date : October 17, 2019
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 14 - 18
- Number of pages : 352
- Available on : Paperback, Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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