Sunny Side Up

Sunny Side Up, published in 2015, is a middle-grade realistic graphic novel by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm. Set in the 1970s, it is the first in a series of books about a young Pennsylvanian named Sunny Lewin. In Sunny Side Up, it is 1976, and 10-year-old Sunny is spending August in Florida with her grandfather. At first, she is disappointed by his retirement community, but she meets a new friend, Buzz, and the two spend the summer reading comic books and pursuing adventures together. During the summer, Sunny shows growth and resilience as she gradually comes to terms with the impact that her older brother’s substance use disorder has had on her family. She learns that secrets can become an unsustainable burden and learns how valuable community support can be.

The Sunny Series continues with Swing It, Sunny, which follows Sunny’s first foray into middle school, shortly after her visit to Florida. Later novels in the series include Sunny Rolls the Dice, Sunny Makes a Splash, and Sunny Makes Her Case. Jennifer L. Holm, who writes the text of the Sunny novels, is a three-time Newbery Honors award winner for Our Only May Amelia, Penny From Heaven, and Turtle in Paradise. She also won the 2013 Eisner Award for her children’s book Babymouse for President. Her brother, Matthew Holm, is the series illustrator. Matthew Holm has also illustrated many other books for young people, including Babymouse for President and the broader Babymouse series.

This study guide refers to the Kindle electronic version of the 2015 Graphix first edition.

Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide contain references to substance abuse, addiction, and domestic violence.

Plot Summary

In August 1976, 10-year-old Sunny Lewin arrives in Florida for a month-long visit with her grandfather, Patrick Hearn. Already uncertain about the visit, Sunny is unhappy to learn that Patrick lives in a retirement community called Pine Palms, and there is no one her own age nearby. Patrick takes her to the community’s office to get a picture ID, and her negative impressions of the community are reinforced by the grumpy Sal, who warns her not to get eaten by any of Florida’s creatures. Patrick tries to assure Sunny that he has big plans for their visit and that she will have a good time. Although she politely agrees, she is unconvinced.

At home in Pennsylvania, where Sunny lives in the suburbs with her parents, her older brother Dale, and an infant brother named Teddy, Sunny is used to spending time with other children—particularly her best friend, Deb. She was expecting to spend August at the beach with her family and Deb. The first social visit that Sunny receives in Pine Palms is from Pat’s elderly upstairs neighbors, Teezy and Ethel. They are very nice to Sunny, but she is taken aback by their strange welcome gift. Sunny’s first night is a sleepless one, as her sofa bed constantly squeaks.

Over the next few days, Pat keeps telling Sunny that they have grand plans for the day, but his exciting plan always turns out to be errands like going to the grocery store or the post office. Sunny really wants to go to Disney World, and although she is unfailingly polite and positive with her grandfather about his plans, she cannot help but be disappointed. Finally, he announces a plan that sounds genuinely exciting to Sunny: they will spend the day at the retirement community’s pool. Sunny often spends time at her own community pool in Pennsylvania, and she has fond memories of her brother Dale’s antics there. Unfortunately, the retirement community pool is a lonely and boring experience; there are no children to play with, and Sunny is completely alone in the water.

One day, Sunny discovers that her grandfather is hiding cigarettes around the house, so she confronts him. However, he claims to have quit smoking and evades her questions. That afternoon, Pat takes her to the golf course, where Sunny meets Buzz, a boy her own age. He is the son of the Pine Palms groundskeeper. Buzz is carrying a comic book, and although Sunny has never read a comic, Buzz is eager to explain his favorite superheroes. The two decide to spend the afternoon together retrieving lost golf balls, which they can turn in at the pro shop for a nickel apiece. While hunting golf balls, Sunny makes the mistake of wading into a water hazard and has a frightening encounter with Big Al, the golf course’s resident alligator. The two children use the money they earn to buy more comics, and Sunny discovers a love for Spider-Man.

In a flashback, Sunny recalls shopping for new school clothes and supplies with her mother, right before school started in the fall of 1975. On the first day, her teacher learned that she is Dale Lewin’s sister, and Sunny could tell that this prejudiced the teacher against her. She felt embarrassed and overshadowed by her troubled brother’s reputation.

Back in the narrative present, Sunny goes out to dinner with her grandfather, Ethel, and Teezy. When the women ask about her life at home, Sunny only tells them about Teddy and omits any mention of Dale.

In another flashback, Sunny remembers when Dale secretly taught her to drive the family car, then bought something in a small paper bag from a friend he ran into on the street. When they returned home, Dale convinced her to lie about their activities of the day.

In the narrative present, Sunny and Buzz find a lost cat and are rewarded with a dollar. They buy more comics and talk about how even Batman and other heroes sometimes fail to save the people they love the most.

In another flashback, Sunny remembers reading about the eruption of Vesuvius. That night at dinner, Dale and her father got into a terrible argument that Sunny interrupted by talking about Pompeii. She imagined Dale’s anger like a volcano waiting to erupt and destroy her family.

In the narrative present, she finds more hidden cigarettes at her grandfather’s home—but he still claims that he has quit smoking. As time goes on, Sunny and Buzz find several more lost cats, and in other flashbacks, Sunny recalls Dale embarrassing her by tossing a bottle from a car as it passed her school bus stop. He also pressured her to lie and to cover up the fact that he was sneaking off to use drugs with friends that his parents disapproved of.

In Florida, Sal asks for Sunny and Buzz’s help tracking down a missing elderly neighbor with dementia. Because Sunny knows how to drive, she and Buzz cover a lot of ground using one of the community’s golf carts. Sunny finds the elderly neighbor waiting for a bus and brings her home.

Sunny and her grandfather go to Buzz’s house for dinner. They learn that Buzz’s father was a chemist in Cuba, and Buzz comments that his father’s job as a gardener in the United States is kind of like a secret identity. Sunny wonders how superheroes manage to keep so many secrets about their true identities. Realizing that Sunny loves comics as much as he and his son do, Buzz’s father offers her a stack of his own comics to take home and read. Among these is one about the Hulk. As Sunny reads, she cannot decide whether the Hulk is good or bad. When Buzz explains that the Hulk cannot help the destruction he causes, Sunny becomes very upset, imagining her brother Dale as the Hulk.

Another flashback explores what happened in Sunny’s family on the Fourth of July that summer. During the fireworks display that Sunny’s family and Deb’s family attended together, Dale showed up intoxicated. He and Sunny’s father argued, and when Dale tried to punch his father, he accidentally hit Sunny instead. Sunny was frightened and sad, and her parents canceled the family vacation to the beach, announcing that Sunny would be spending the end of the summer with her grandfather in Florida.

Back in the present, Sunny discovers more hidden cigarettes and confronts her grandfather, telling him that she is tired of all of the secrets. She will no longer pretend not to know that he is smoking, and she will no longer pretend that her brother is fine. Pat apologizes to his granddaughter and promises to stop smoking for real. When he learns that she believes that her parents sent her to Florida because she was making Dale’s situation worse, he explains that her parents did want her out of the way—but not because any of this is her fault. They are simply trying to protect her from a bad situation while they try to get Dale the help he needs.

In the morning, Pat and Sunny throw away Pat’s remaining cigarettes, and Pat announces that he has big plans for the day. Sunny is overjoyed to learn that this time, they really are going to Disney World. Pat also invites Buzz, Teezy, Ethel, and Sal, and they all have a wonderful time. When it is time for Sunny to return to Pennsylvania a few days later, the Mickey Mouse ears she got at Disney World are one of her new prized possessions. She also takes comic books and a gift from Pat’s neighbors. Sunny and her grandfather bid each other a tearful goodbye, and he reminds her to stay positive. She boards the plane with an optimistic smile.