Sunny is looking forward to her awesome summer vacation going to the beach with her best friend...and then she gets sent off to stay with her grandfather at his retirement community in Florida. What Sunny views as a punishment is actually her family trying to shield her from her brother's trip to rehab. Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm looks at substance abuse from the viewpoint of a younger sibling which is rather refreshing and ultimately important when a child is trying to find books that relate to themselves. (I don't know anyone with a picture perfect childhood so it's a good idea if children's literature reflects that.) The references to substance abuse are rather oblique for the majority of the book so it's not heavy handed in the slightest. For the most part, we see Sunny acting pretty snotty as she comes to terms with the fact her summer is not going to be anything like she had planned but intermixed with that is a healthy dose of fear, anxiety, and shame. Remember she has no idea what has caused her family to send her away but she think she must have done something terribly wrong. (Also, her grandfather is the mack daddy of the retirement community and it's hilarious.) She does manage to make a friend of commensurate age though and the two of them develop a mutual interest in superheroes and comics. 

It's hard to say where the author lands in terms of keeping family secrets (they experienced something similar to Sunny in reality) but what the reader does see is Sunny learning about the difficulty of maintaining secret identities as she gets into reading comics. By the end, she is told what has happened with her brother and the reader (if they hadn't already figured it out) sees all the puzzle pieces fall into place. Because the reader is seeing everything through the eyes of Sunny the reading experience is quite different from some of the realistic fiction on this topic that I've read before. I think from that standpoint this is quite a unique and important book especially for children who have experienced this and are feeling quite alone and isolated. In fact, at the end they tacked on a bit about talking to someone if you know a family member is struggling with substance abuse. If you're creating a booklist for your students and you're looking for material that touches on substance abuse and/or family dynamics you could do a lot worse than picking Sunny Side Up. 8/10

What's Up Next: 5 Worlds Book 1: The Sand Warrior by Alexis & Mark Siegel and illustrations by Boya Sun & Matt Rockefeller

What I'm Currently Reading: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

BULLYING IS NEVER OKAY! This story is about a 5th grade boy with a facial deformity who is going to a new school. It is heart breaking and beautiful. It teaches children to think before they speak. In my observations last semester, ALLLLL the 5th grade students were obsessed with this book because they had read it the year before. According to Fountas & Pinnell's leveling system I believe it would fall under R because it does require background knowledge and the ability to decode figurative language. It includes mature themes such as bullying and family problems. 

As a classroom activity, I would use this to build community. I think each student would need to write a nice note to a classmate (draw names from a hat). Or each student could write a positive compliment for every other student in the class. Our classroom will be a family and we will build eachother up , never put eachother down.

About a year ago, I stumbled into a cute little bookstore which specialized in mystery, sci-fi, and fantasy of both the new and used variety. I felt it was my solemn duty to have a close look and about an hour later I left with a few (or three) choice items. One of these I already reviewed and today's was actually a signed copy titled The Unfinished World: And Other Stories by Amber Sparks. As the title suggests, this is a collection of short stories that have an eerie, fantastical vibe to them. Some of them are downright disturbing (the taxidermy one in particular stands out) while others are merely just off the beaten path into strangeness. If you like dark, eerie fiction that crosses into the borders of the unknown then this book would be right up your street. If you're looking to delve into short story collections but you're not sure where to start this also might be a good fit for you. As for me, I enjoyed a few of them but overall this wasn't my favorite of the short story collections I've read. (That honor either goes to Through the Woods or The Opposite of Loneliness.) 5/10

Let the Right One In is a unique spin on the vampire tale. There are several mini stories that converge on the two main characters: Oskar and Eli. Oskar is a bullied boy with a thirst for revenge. Eli is the mysterious 12 year old who moves in next door and bewitches Oskar almost immediately. Eli is also a vampire. (This isn't a spoiler because this is a vampire novel, ya'll. Someone had to be a vampire.) This is no Twilight. That isn't to say that there aren't romantic tones but it's completely different from Edward and Bella. For one thing, they're 12 year olds. For another...well I don't want to give that part away. Lindqvist is a fantastic writer (and since it's been translated I'm sure it's even better in Swedish). There are so many themes that are covered in this book: bullying, discovering your true self, alcoholism, drug addiction, abuse (emotional and physical), and true love just to name a few.

*I'm going to break one of my rules and give you guys a tiny spoiler. This is also a warning for those of you who might be triggered by sexual assault. Even though I had seen both film adaptations for Let the Right One In I was completely unprepared for what lay ahead for me in this book. Whereas gore, violence, and death have little to no effect on me some of the themes in this book gave me nightmares. There are graphic depictions of pedophilia, male castration, sodomy, and rape.*