June (the main character) is a 1-year-old Chinese American who, with her mother and 6-year-old sister, has become homeless after the death of her father and the resulting breakdown of her mother. She begs the universe to have mercy on them. Obviously not every child may be ready for this type of storyline. This is the primary reason we express a bit of caution with the Prayerfully Consider verdict.

There are frequent mentions of “bad luck”, “cosmic distribution of fortune”. Frequent mention of certain numbers being bad luck. Karma.

Adults are often disrespected, admittedly some of the families are at the homeless shelter because of the poor choices and irresponsibility of parents. This itself can bring up a tricky topic in real-world settings.

Kids often lie to get around rules that they deem unfair. Some of these rules are indeed unfair, but lying is seen as acceptable (aka situation-based ethics). They also pick locks and take items from the director’s desk.

The book is full of diverse characters and there is a definite political spin. The authorities are depicted as heartless and motivated by money, which is of course not always the case.