Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm

Today I’ll be recommending the book Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm. It’s about an 11 year old girl, Penny, who is living in 1953. She has great ideas of what she wants to do to have fun in the summer, but it seems like her mother is saying no to all of them. Worst of all her mom starts dating the milkman. How will she make this summer more fun? Well her troublemaker cousin, Frankie will try to help. Penny is a really great character who just wants to have fun, but will she have even less fun if she gets in trouble with Frankie? The recommended reading age is 10+. This book is most like Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson. I think Jennifer Holm writes most like Wendy Mass (She wrote Jeremy Fink and The Meaning of Life.) because they both write in the perspective of kids that are 11 and 12 and make it believable. My favorite part from this book is “Nonny starts crying. “My Freddy good boy.” “That’s right,” Uncle Paulie says, a fat tear running down his cheek. “Regular party in here,” a voice says from the top of the stairs.” I like this part because it just shows how funny the book is. The author has also written Turtle in Paradise. This book has won a Newbery Honor and is a fast historical fiction read that will also count as award winning. The School Library Journal said, “Penny and her world are clearly drawn and eminently believable, made up of seamlessly interwoven details from everyday life.” So will Penny make this a great summer, or will her mother ruin it all? Recommended by Laura Snyder