Penny From Heaven

August 28, 2006
Newbery Honor author Holm (Our Only May Amelia
) conjures a nostalgic 1953 New Jersey summer in this novel with a plucky 11-year-old narrator at its center. Penny divides her time between two extremes: her overprotective single mother (who is "afraid of just about everything that involves fun") and the maternal grandparents with whom she lives, and her deceased father's colorful Italian family. Despite her passion for the Brooklyn Dodgers and gentle comic voice, Penny emerges primarily as an observer witnessing the antics of her more zany relatives, including her favorite uncle Dominic who lives in his car, her scheming cousin Frankie (who doubles as her best friend) and her perennially black-clad grandmother Nonny, who lives to feed people and feuds with her daughter-in-law, an ex-Rockette. In the conflict between Penny and her mother's beau, the narrative offers a fresh take on a familiar plight. The relaxed pace picks up after an accident lands Penny in the hospital and she overhears a rumor about her father. Holm includes telling historical details, including information about WWII Italian internment camps and how Penny's mother will not allow her to swim in a public pool or visit a movie theater because of the risk of polio. Readers will enjoy observing Penny's growth, how she mediates a peace among her family members and offers a glimmer of heaven. Ages 8-12.

October 16, 2006
A youthful voice serves Sealey well as narrator of this offbeat period piece chronicling the colorful experiences of 11-year-old Penny Falucci during the summer of 1953. Penny plans to have a dream summer vacation spending time at the local pool, eating butter pecan ice cream and listening to her beloved Brooklyn Dodgers on the radio with one of her many uncles or cousins. But not all happens according to plan when she suffers a devastating household accident. As Penny struggles to recover, she learns an ugly truth about her father's death years ago and comes to understand the estrangement between her mother's family and her father's boisterous Italian clan. Holm's plot has surprising twists and turns and plenty of evocative flavor, all of which give Sealey room to stretch a bit. Her crisp, even rhythm complements the pace of the unfolding drama. Ages 10-up.

November 1, 2006
Gr 5-7-Take a trip back to 1953 in Jennifer L. Holms charming story (Random, 2006). Eleven-year-old Penny lives in New Jersey and walks a tightrope between two families. On one side are her widowed mother, her irascible grandfather, and her cooking-disabled grandmother with whom she lives. On the other side are her deceased fathers Italian family with an abundance of loving aunts and uncles and a Nonny who makes the best cannoli around. The two families dont interact and Penny understands it has something to do with her fathers death, but nobody will talk about it. Pennys biggest problems this summer are convincing her mother she wont catch polio from the community pool, keeping her cousin Frankie from scrapes with the law, and discouraging the milkman from courting her mother. Told in vignette style, Amber Sealeys narration enhances the telling. She effortlessly slips in and out of voices ranging from a young girl, a mischievous boy, a sobbing Italian grandmother, and a Brooklyn inflection that would make Tony Soprano proud. Inspired by the authors Italian-American family, the plot is a bit weak, but warmth and humor abound."Tricia Melgaard, Centennial Middle School, Broken Arrow, OK"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.