Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. Holm (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. Holm Deborah Stevenson, Editor Holm, Jennifer L. Sunny Side Up; by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm; illus. by Matthew Holm. Graphix/Scholastic, 2015 [224p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-545-74165-1 $23.99 Paper ed. ISBN 978-0-545-74166-8 $12.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-545-74167-5 $12.99 R Gr. 3-5 It’s the summer of 1976, and ten-year-old Sunny is visiting her grandfather at his retirement community in Florida. Flashbacks in this graphic novel reveal that this isn’t what Sunny had in mind: she was supposed to be going away with her family and her best friend, but something happened to change those plans. She does manage to start having a good time when she bonds with Buzz, the groundskeeper’s son, and the two kids develop some local income streams (finding lost cats and retrieving missing golf balls) to purchase more of the comics they love. Timelines [End Page 92] are made clear by dates that introduce each flashback, which together reveal the descent of her beloved older brother into antisocial and substance-abusing behavior. The past scenes also contribute to the mounting unease that lurks behind Sunny’s people-pleasing façade as she deals with the discomforts of life with her grandfather. Her friendship with Buzz is a low-key delight, and their shared joy in superheroes has contemporary relevance as well as thematic significance. The art is unfussy and summer-casual, warmly supporting the dialogue-ballooned text and smoothly slipping in to take over the storytelling at times. Comic-book fans like Sunny as well as readers of family dramas will find welcome here. Copyright © 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois