Strong Female Protagonist - strong writing

books:


	• Penny from Heaven Jennifer Holm Yearling, 2007 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 16 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Just OK

I guess I'm the odd-ball out on this one. I'm not sure why but this was just ok for me. I liked the characters and such but it just wasnt that interesting to me. It wasn't easy staying tuned into this book. I'd end up putting it down and/or reading something else. I ended up taking it back before I finished it.

Food for a Young Girl's Soul

A wonderful period piece about a girl facing several challenges. Jennifer Holm does a beautiful job creating characters that you come to love and drawing the type of story you can't pull away from. This is a great book for girls in upper elementary or middle school grades. It also is a fabulous book for its ability to create a world that you can literally be drawn into and not want to leave-in this case an Italian American culture that is portrayed in such a vivid way that I didn't want the book to ever end. This is the type of book that is food for the young girl's soul!

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A Gem of a Book

Being a Newbery Honor book, I had to give this book a read. I definitely wasn't disappointed! This was a beautifully written coming-of-age story that children and young adults will be able to enjoy for years to come. Jennifer Holm, author of the Newbery Award winning book, Our May Amelia, is back with another lovely book about children growing up faster than they should have too, but enjoying themselves on the journey.

Penny, a half-Italian girl living with her mother and grandparents in New Jersey, longs to know more about what happened to her father. Her died when she was very young and her mother never speaks of him. The only time Penny is able to hear his name mentioned is when she is over at her Italian grandparents house, where her myriad of Aunts, Uncles, and cousins never fail to talk about her dad. Penny loves spending time in this boisterous household where food is always delicious and her best friend and cousin Frankie spends most of his time.

Unfortunately, Penny's mother doesn't get along with her in-laws and doesn't like Penny spending all of her time over there. As her mother begins dating, Penny tries to break up the dates in order to matchmake between her mother and her father's brother, Dominic. Penny, more than anything, wants her two families to love each other as she loves them. After a tragic accident that puts the use of Penny's arm in jeopardy, the true colors of her family members really begin to shine.

Set in the 1950's this book is so much more than family problems. It has exciting baseball games, friendships, and a mystery of buried treasure. The characters are incredibly real and lovable. Uncle Dominic was probably my favorite of the cast, because of his quirkiness and mystery. This is a true gem of a book.

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PENNY FROM HEAVEN!

Penny from heaven was exciting and thrilling! Every sentence and character sparkled with creativity and originality! With an amazing story and bright, interesting characters, this book will definitely have you hooked!

Strong Female Protagonist - strong writing

This delightful piece of historical fiction set in New Jersey in the 1950's explores the life of "Penny" who lives with a single mother and grandparents, but who has a whole other life on Sundays with her father's family, a large Italian American one with uncles who dote on her. The mystery that threads itself through this story is that no one will talk about her father, and how and why he died. Or, why the families do not intereact, except through her.

Strong writing, a strong female protagonist, and interesting sub-plots all make for a delightful coming-of-age story, very appropriate for the upper elementary and middle school audience.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

It?s1953 and 11-year-old Penny dreams of a summer of butter pecan ice cream, swimming, and baseball. But nothing?s that easy in Penny?s family. For starters, she can?t go swimming because her mother?s afraid she?ll catch polio at the pool. To make matters worse, her favorite uncle is living in a car. Her Nonny cries every time her father?s name is mentioned. And the two sides of her family aren?t speaking to each other!

Inspired by Newbery Honor winner Jennifer Holm?s own Italian American family, Penny from Heaven is a shining story about the everyday and the extraordinary, about a time in America?s history, not all that long ago, when being Italian meant that you were the enemy. But most of all, it?s a story about families?about the things that tear them apart and bring them together. And Holm tells it with all the richness and the layers, the love and the laughter of a Sunday dinner at Nonny?s. So pull up a chair and enjoy the feast! Buon appetito!

From the Hardcover edition.

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