Author: Ashley Herring Blake
LGBTQ+ Representation: Main character wants to kiss girls, not boys
What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Now that she's gotten a new heart, twelve-year-old Sunny's goals are 1) do everything she couldn't do before, 2) find a best friend, and 3) kiss a boy. Sunny's swimming again, and finds best-friend potential in cool, new girl Quinn, and maybe . . . Sunny would rather kiss Quinn than a boy! But how does Quinn feel? Plus, Sunny is still reeling from her former-best-friend's (FBF's) betrayal, and Sunny's estranged mother moves back into town, complicating everything.
What I think (in 250 words or fewer): Blake writes in her afterward that she's not picking favorites, but "Sunny swept and stole my heart" (pg. 373); since I can pick favorites, Sunny is my favorite of Blake's main characters.
Sunny is hella strong, having gone through a heart transplant. She writes beautiful poetry/songs and leaves them in places for people to find, sometimes in empty bottles that she sends out to sea, which is something I always wanted to do as a kid.
Since she was four, Sunny has been raised by her mother's best friend, Kate, due to Sunny's mothers alcoholism. Sunny has mixed feelings about her mother, who had not been in contact for eight years and suddenly shows up, wanting to a part of her life. Sunny has a great relationship with Kate, teasing her about her longtime "friend" Dave, a musician who sings "whiny" love songs.
Sunny's hesitant relationship with her mother is realistically portrayed, as well as Kate's protectiveness (as well as resentent towards her friend). Blue-haired Quinn is super cool; she and Sunny have fun (and awkward!) adventures together trying to help Sunny reach her third goal.
I desperately don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that Sunny and Quinn have a great summer together and the book ends happily. And I tear up just remembering Sunny's song to the family of her heart donor:
. . . I wonder about the way my heart
--your heart--
Will skip and sing when I see someone I like. . . (pg. 337).
This book is on the 2020 Rainbow Book List.
My final takeaway (in 75 words or fewer): Even though it deals with some heavy subjects (absentee parents, heart transplants, mean girls, sexuality), The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James makes me feel warm and fuzzy. Sunny has some tough things going on in her life, but she preserveres.
Plus, living on an island off the coast of South Carolina sounds amazing (if no hurricanes. I am going to pretend there are no hurricanes in Sunny's world.
Memorable quotes/passages from the book:
- "Okay, fine, yes, I know kissing doesn't seem like such a huge deal when my heart is gasping its last breath, but if I die without ever being really and truly kissed, I'm going to be so mad" (pg. 7).
- "Thinking about kissing girls was too scary, and I had enough scary things in my life, thanks very much. So I was going to kiss only boys" (pg. 89).
- "Now that I've seen you up close,
You look exactly like me.
Or maybe I look like you.
Sometimes I forget that I made it all up,
The mermaid in the sea
And me in the sand" (pg. 151).
- "I look down at my hands and it feels like there's a hummingbird fluttering around in my chest. A really, really happy hummingbird" (pg. 239).
Other reviews: A Mighty Girl and Literacious
If you liked this book, you should read One True Way, Drama, and Star-Crossed.
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| This book is available here: https://library.greensboro-nc.gov/ |
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| Learn more about the Rainbow Book List here: http://www.ala.org/rt/glbtrt |
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