the wink of a metal goat sculpture, tucked in the corner of a dusty, junk-filled hardware shop, make nine-year-old Jack believe in magic again? "It has to," Jack's father decides as he hauls the odd metal creature home in the back of his pickup. After the death of his grandfather, Jack has refused to perform any magic tricks; actually, he won't speak of his grandfather at all.

And so goes the tale of A Goat Named Lucky, a middle-aged chapter book that captures the need of all children to believe in magic, especially Jack's, after the loss of someone so dear.