The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James

(Paperback)

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Description

When Sunny St. James receives a new heart, she decides to set off on a New Life Plan: 1) do awesome amazing things she could never do before; 2) find a new best friend; and 3) kiss a boy for the first time. Her New Life Plan seems to be racing forward, but when she meets her new best friend Quinn, Sunny questions whether she really wants to kiss a boy at all. With the reemergence of her mother, Sunny begins a journey to becoming the new Sunny St. James.

As with Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World, the sophomore middle grade novel by Ashley Herring Blake adds to the slowly growing, but still small list of queer MG titles. The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James is a gorgeous follow-up to Ivy Aberdeen as a novel about grief, loss, discovery, friendship, and the power in being oneself, no matter what.

Reviews

* "[The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James] is an accomplished, layered, moving story featuring a girl questioning her sexuality. Bighearted in every way."--Booklist, starred review
* "A heartwarming and engaging tale that treats Sunny's emerging sexual identity with care, authenticity, and age appropriateness."--School Library Journal, starred review
* "A sweet and gentle story of self-discovery and a beautiful addition to the growing genre of middle-grade realism featuring girls who like girls."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James pulls at the heart strings from the very first sentence. Part soul-crushing, part soul-fulfilling, laced in humor and unwavering hope. Readers will root for Sunny from start to finish. Ashley Herring Blake hits all the feels with this one. Love is love is Love. Surely a message we all can get on board with!"--Tami Charles, author of Like Vanessa and Definitely Daphne
"The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James will make you ache for the twelve-year-old you once were, and anxious to share this book with every pre-teen you know. I may be Ashley Herring Blake's biggest fan!"--p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Times}span.s1 {font-kerning: none}Shannon Hitchcock, author of One True Way and Ruby Lee & Me
"In The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James, Ashley Herring Blake honors the big, messy emotions inherent in being a preteen girl. Sunny is portrayed with such deep empathy and respect that she's destined to be a treasured friend for readers. This book is a joy."--Anne Ursu, author of The Lost Girl
"Sunny's bravery and buoyant spirit as she explores the truth about her family and herself will leave a lasting impression on the reader's heart."--Barbara Dee, author of Everything I Know About You and Halfway Normal
Praise for The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James: The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James is a moving coming of age story that is not only engaging to read but is also deeply important. Sunny is a funny, thoughtful, and wonderfully rendered character who will stay with you long after you have finished reading.--Aisha Saeed, New York Times bestselling author of Amal Unbound

Author Bio

Ashley Herring Blake is the author of the young adult novels Suffer Love, How to Make a Wish, and Girl Made of Stars, as well as the Stonewall honour novel Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World, and The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James. Ashley lives in Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and two sons.