Sunny Side Up

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains references to substance abuse and domestic violence.

Sunny, the novel’s protagonist, is a 10-year-old girl from a suburban town in Pennsylvania, near Valley Forge. She wears feminine clothing typical of girls in the 1970s and has yellow hair that she recently cut short in an attempt to imitate the hairstyle of the skater, Dorothy Hamill. Sunny is a polite and conscientious child who is interested in school and reading and enjoys spending time with her older brother, Dale, and her best friend, Deb. She engages in activities typical for suburban girls in this era, such as reading teen magazines and swimming at the local pool. She looks up to Dale and is eager to be included in his life. She also avoids conflict and sometimes has trouble standing up for what is best for her. As a result, she is sometimes placed in situations that are harmful to her psyche, as when Dale pressures her to lie for him, endangers her safety by teaching her to drive, and accidentally strikes her when he is trying to lash out at his father. Sunny’s world is greatly disrupted by her older brother’s substance use and his resulting conflicts with her parents.