Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone…and Sunny St. James is almost there. The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James by Ashley Herring Blake explores the heart transplant recovery process of soon-to-be 7th grader Sunny. Observer of everything, participant in nothing. Sunny declares that if she can make it through the surgery and recovery process, she will start really living.
Start Me Off
Sunny is a darling little thing and lives with Kate, her biological mom’s bestie and mom stand-in since Sunny’s mom decided eight years ago she couldn’t do the mothering thing.
Diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, she has not been able to participate in sport and most recently, her entire sixth grade school year. She is homeschooled and feels completely lost in the social system that is middle school existence.
Sunny’s best friend did her dirty and they aren’t speaking.
A new heart became ‘available’ (ugh, that sounds so terrible) and Sunny decides that instead of being afraid of everything because of her bad heart, she’ll fully embrace opportunities that come her way…as soon as she’s recovered.
Let’s Add Some Spice
Who skitters in after eight long years and no communication? Sunny’s biological mom. Things get real interesting real fast.
Sunny meets up with a new potential friend and they decide together that item numero uno on their summer list is to kiss someone.
Let’s add in Sunny’s ex-bestie coming back into the picture and claiming to have no clue why their friendship ended.
To Ponder
The big take-aways here are
- What makes a family? Blood may connect you, but other ties keep you together.
- Do you need to be patient and daring to understand patient and daring?
- Are you a new person after being sick for so long?
- Alcoholism
- Sexuality and questioning feelings
Verdict?
I loved this book! The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James is pure gold! Tying in friendship and chosen families and questioning identity was such an incredible mix and I found myself not wanting my runs to end so I could keep listening. Truly a testament to this book and narrator because Chicago got weeks of insane temps + humidity, so nobody was choosing to run farther than they had to. 😂