Sunny Side Up (Sunny Series #1)

by Jennifer L. Holm, Matthew Holm (Illustrator)

Overview

When is a summer vacation not really a summer vacation?

Sunny Lewin has been packed off to Florida to live with her grandfather for the summer. At first she thought Florida might be fun — it is the home of Disney World, after all. But the place where Gramps lives is no amusement park. It's full of . . . old people. Really old people.Luckily, Sunny isn't the only kid around. She meets Buzz, a boy who is completely obsessed with comic books, and soon they're having adventures of their own: facing off against golfball-eating alligators, runaway cats, and mysteriously disappearing neighbors. But the question remains — why is Sunny down in Florida in the first place? The answer lies in a family secret that won't be secret to Sunny much longer. . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545741668
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/25/2015
Series:	Sunny , #1
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	49,514
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

JENNIFER L. HOLM is the New York Times bestselling and three-time Newbery Honor-winning author of multiple novels for young readers. With her brother Matthew, Jennifer created the graphic novel series Babymouse and Squish. She lives in California.
Matthew Holm was born and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and has been drawing comics since he was in middle school. With his sister, Jennifer, Matthew created the graphic novel series Babymouse and Squish. He lives in upstate New York.

Editorial Reviews

06/01/2015
In a compassionate story that opens in the summer of 1976, the brother-sister team behind the Babymouse and Squish series introduces 10-year-old Sunny Lewin, who is facing unwanted change on multiple fronts. Sunny’s planned vacation with a best friend has turned into a solo trip to visit her grandfather at a Florida retirement village. With no kids in sight, a squeaky hide-a-bed to sleep on, and a haircut that falls short of the Dorothy Hamill wedge she’d hoped for, Sunny is disappointed at the direction her summer has taken. Through skillfully deployed flashbacks, the Holms reveal that these concerns, while not trivial, mask a larger one—Sunny’s older brother’s increasingly out-of-control use of alcohol and drugs. Colored by Lark Pien in creamy aquas, corals, and yellows, the illustrations shout “Florida coast,” and, along with the short chapters, give the story the feel of a serialized Sunday comic. Sunny’s introduction, via a new friend, to comic-book heroes like Swamp Thing and Batman creates some slightly heavy-handed but effective parallels for Sunny’s conflicted feelings about a family she cares for deeply. Ages 8–12. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary Management. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

…one of the best books I have yet read about growing up in the 1970s…slyly funny and moving…there's much more than ironic nostalgia going on here. The Holms…have created a subtle exploration of the ways, in any time period, addiction and its lesser-evil twin, denial, can creep into a family and take over.

The New York Times - Maria Russo

Praise for Sunny Side Up:“Heartbreaking and hopeful, Sunny Side Up is just the thing to chase away the clouds.” —Raina Telgemeier, creator of Smile and Sisters* "A humorous yet emotional story with a memorable protagonist and detailed full-color art that make this a perfect choice for fans of Raina Telgemeier." — School LIbrary Journal, starred review* "The Holms tell this poignant, multi-threaded story with great warmth and humor, and exquisite comic timing." — Shelf Awareness for Readers, starred reviewPraise for Swing It, Sunny:* "Fans of Sunny Side Up will adore this sequel, which provides enough background for new readers to jump right in." — School LIbrary Journal, starred review * "Poignant and hilarious in turn and emotionally rich throughout. Another radiant outing." — Kirkus, starred review

From the Publisher

★ 2015-06-16
Family troubles temporarily strand 10-year-old Sunny in a Florida retirement community. Imagine the recreational possibilities. In the hands of the sibling creators of Babymouse and Squish, even a story inspired by troubling circumstances in their own mid-1970s childhoods offers hilarious turns aplenty. Instead of a trip to the shore with a friend, Sunny finds herself on a solo flight to stay with her genial grandfather—in a development where a trip to the post office is the day's big outing, Walt Disney World is hours away, and her exposure to senior culture includes being fawned over by old ladies. Happily, there is one other child around: Buzz, a groundskeeper's boy, who turns her on to superhero comics and joins her in starting up a moderately lucrative business recovering golf balls and residents' (illegal) lost cats. Less happily, interspersed flashbacks reveal the reason for the sudden change of plans by tracking her older brother Dale's increasingly erratic behavior and drug abuse, leading up to an intervention in the wake of a violent incident. Colored by Lark Pien in subdued hues that subtly reflect Sunny's state of mind, the sequential panels present both storylines in a mix of terse labels, brief dialogue, and, particularly, silent, effective reaction shots.Funny, poignant, and reassuringly upbeat by the end but free of glib platitudes or easy answers. (afterword) (Graphic historical fiction. 9-11)

Kirkus Reviews