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Sunny Side Up | April 13, 2017

by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm (Graphix / Scholastic; August 2015)

I first picked this up on a recent not-so-glamorous beach vacation, thinking I might have something in common with a ten year old protagonist off to visit her grandfather at a sunny-but-bleak Floridian retirement home. Though that parallel did not entirely come to fruition, I fell in love with this book in all of its sun-bleached illustrations and careful depictions of what it’s like to carry the weight of other people’s secrets.

Sunshine “Sunny” Lewin can’t wait to head out to the beach and reunite with her best summer friend; but things take a sharp left turn when Sunny is instead flown out to Florida for a summer with Grandpa Pat at Pine Palms retirement community. With no kids allowed in the community pool and early bird dinner specials every evening at 4:30, adventures are hard to come by at first. But unexpected friendships shine through and Sunny ultimately emerges with a great new love–comic books. Meanwhile, carefully timed flashbacks allude to the troubling reason Sunny was sent away in the first place.

Though quiet in action, this is a beautiful and satisfying read with a substantive emotional arc that effortlessly articulates what it’s like to feel disappointed, anxious, and resentful towards your family when you don’t yet have the self-assurance to express those feelings out loud. But it’s also an odyssey of unexpected adventures in a retirement home–complete with a cat-finding detective agency, zany octogenarian friends, and a really great comic book store. Poignant, realistic, and recommended to all.

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