Summary
Set in 1953 New Jersey, this 2007 Newbery Honor Book follows the tumultuous summer of 11-year-old Penny. Though she lives with her mother and their extended family, Penny loves spending time with her late father's affectionate Italian American family, and longs to know why there's so much tension between the two families. Though Penny had planned for a summer of swimming, running around with her cousin Frankie, and eating lots of ice cream, things take a dramatic turn when an accident changes everything. Italian American heritage, family history, and cultural history combine to create a moving story.
Customer Reviews
Be the first to review this book!
Media Reviews
"It's undeniably a nostalgic and highly personal piece, but it is readable and appealing nostalgia; Penny's family is quirky, big-hearted, and lively, and her adventures will have broad appeal for preadolescents, as well as bringing to light a largely neglected piece of American history."
Bibliographic Details
Publisher: Random House Childrens Books Published date: 2006 Size: 5.75 x 8.5 inches Weight: 0.95 pounds Ages: 4 to 6 Pages: 288
Synopses
As she turns twelve during the summer of 1953, Penny gains new insights into herself and her family while also learning a secret about her father's death.
Publisher's Notes
As she turns twelve during the summer of 1953, Penny gains new insights into herself and her family while also learning a secret about her father's death. By the author of Our Only May Amelia.
Other Editions
Similar books

Cassie Binegar
by Patricia MacLachlan
Cassie thought longingly of the order and pattern in her mother's old garden inland. And her old tree house, built on the low limbs of a huge maple tree. It had been her space. Here there was no space for her. Even her own room was not hers. Cassie Binegar (whose name rhymes with vinegar) hates the weathered house by the sea, where there is no space to call her own. She yearns to go back to her old home, back to the time before she had yelled at her grandfather, before he had died. She tongs for an orderliness to life -- a pattern-that doesn't exist among her raucous, loving family. Cassie hides and watches and listens; but then her Gran comes-Gran, who is so good at seeing the truth about Cassie. The rest of Cassie's relatives arrive also: Uncle Hat, who sometimes speaks in rhymes, Cousin Coralinda, who wears too many feathers, and Baby Binnie, who speaks a language all her own. When a stranger comes for the summer, Cassie begins to learn that there are some things that do not stay the same forever. Patricia MacLachlan, with the gentle insight and understatement that characterizes all her stories, writes of a wistful young girl trying to look at the world through the eyes of those she loves.

The Wednesday Wars
by Gary D. Schmidt
Set during the 1967-1968 school year, Holling Hoodhood finds his seventh-grade year one filled with many challenges as he spends afternoons with Mrs. Baker discussing the plays of Shakespeare, defends his tasty cream puffs from a determined bully, and prepares for his big debut in the school play--all while the issue of Vietnam looms on a daily basis. 50,000 first printing.

Walk Two Moons
by Sharon Creech
On her journey by car from Ohio to Idaho with her grandparents, 13-year-old Salamanca Hiddle tells the story of her friend Phoebe, who receives a message from a "lunatic" and who must cope with the disappearance of her mother. But beneath this story is Sal's own story, and that of her mother, who left home one day and never returned.

Cecilia's Year
by Susan Gonzales Abraham

Preacher's Boy
by Katherine Paterson
A new century is fast approaching ... ... but will the year 1900 mean the end of the world, as some say) Robbie Hewitt isn't certain. What he does know is that he wants to get in as much living as possible between now and the new year, just in case-which includes running Mabel Cramm's bloomers up the flagpole on Decoration Day, and taking a ride in a real motorcar. Robbie doesn't care that his antics leave his preacher father and the upstanding citizens of Leonardstown, Vermont, heartily unimpressed. But when his high spirits and hot temper entangle him in a scheme that damages far more than his father's reputation, Robbie must choose whether to take responsibility for his actions -- a decision that holds the life of a man in the balance.
|