By day Susan Patron is a senior librarian in the Los Angeles Public Library system, where she has worked for thirty-five years. She is also an accomplished author of children's fiction, and today her resume got a nice new topper. She won the American Library Association's 2007 Newbery Medal for The Higher Power of Lucky. "A perfectly nuanced blend of adventure, survival (emotional and physical) and hilarious character study... as well as a blueprint for a self-examined life,” said the committee's chair. Mayor Villaraigosa's office released a statement congratulating Patron for winning "the ‘Oscar’ for American literature for children."