Sunny Holiday: Book 1 - Hardcover

Coleen Murtagh Paratore is the author of the popular THE WEDDING PLANNER'S DAUGHTER series, which includes most recently, FORGET ME NOT, WISH I MIGHT, and FROM WILLA, WITH LOVE. She is also the author of SUNNY HOLIDAY and SWEET AND SUNNY. The mother of three teenage sons, she lives in upstate New York and on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Visit Coleen online at www.coleenparatore.com.

Grade 3–4—Fourth-grader Sunny is dealing with a lot in her young life. Her father is in prison, her school is in danger of being shut down, and she is trying to come up with new holidays so that every month has a fun day. Difficult situations are handled gently, but realistically. Sunny knows that her daddy went to jail because he made a mistake trying to take a shortcut to success. Her mother, who works as a maid and is taking college courses one at a time, emphasizes that success only comes from hard work. The mayor visits Riverview Towers, an "ugly cement-gray building" where Sunny lives, and she decides to tell him about her idea for January's holiday, Kid's Day. When she gets her chance to speak, she finds herself telling him about all the things he needs to do for her and her neighbors, like fixing the community pool, finishing the park he started, and cleaning up the river. While Sunny's life still isn't perfect, the novel has a happy ending. The text is not difficult and includes some fun images for abstract ideas, for example, negative comments are "butterfly squishers."—Laura Stanfield, Campbell County Public Library, Ft. Thomas, KY
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