The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James

Sunny St. James is twelve and getting a new heart. She was diagnosed at the age of ten with cardiomyopathy: a failing heart. That was two years ago. Sunny’s been through a lot in her short life. Her dad passed away in an accident right after she was born. When she was four, her mom, Lena, couldn’t take care of her anymore, so she gave her to her best friend, Kate. Kate and Sunny moved to Juniper Island, where Kate runs Cherry Picked Books. And recently, Sunny’s best friendship with Margot ended. But she’s getting a heart transplant, and everything is going to change now. Sunny even has a new life plan, which includes finding a new best friend and kissing some boys. So when she meets Quinn, a new girl, on the beach, it seems like show more all the pieces of her plan are coming together. But Quinn makes Sunny question some things—including whether she wants to kiss boys at all.

“I’m going to die today. Definitely for a few minutes and maybe forever. Kate keeps telling me no way, nohow is it going to be forever, but she isn’t the one who’s about to have her most important internal organ switched out like a new swimsuit at the start of the summer.”

Oh this book, this book. [a:Ashley Herring Blake|8545130|Ashley Herring Blake|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1511916369p2/8545130.jpg] did it again. She is just such a wonderful, wonderful writer. I simply fell head over heels for Sunny, who stole my heart from the first pages of this beautiful book. She is strong, vulnerable, and a darling character who came to life through Blake’s lovely writing. She goes through so much in her life—and in the chapters of this book—and yet there’s so much hope and laughter. I cannot even describe it. The book opens with Sunny’s transplant and then we move on from there, as she works to implement her three-step plan:

“Step One: Do awesome amazing things I could never do before. Step Two: Find a new best friend. Step Three: Find a boy and kiss him.”

To Sunny’s twelve-year-old reasoning, it all makes perfect sense. She has a new heart, so it’s a perfect time to be a new person. In fact, with the new heart, there’s no reason to feel the things she felt before, which might have included some desires to kiss girls. When she meets Quinn on the beach—Quinn and her mom are in town for the summer, as Quinn’s mom is a nature photographer—they become fast friends. It seems like they will be on a quest to kiss boys together. But things quickly go awry (seriously – there are some hilarious comedic scenes as the two attempt to kiss some boys). This book does such an amazing job at capturing the loneliness of young gay kids. I so wish there books like this around when I was a teen. Sunny is so sweet, so real, and so raw as she works through her confusion about liking girls. This is such a wonderful and needed book for middle schoolers (and everyone)—for queer kids as they try to figure out things like Sunny and for the allies who need to support them. I wish everyone could read it. Not only does Sunny struggle with her feelings about liking girls and boys, but she must deal with the return of her long-lost mother, Lena. In another book, these two storylines might feel crowded, but Blake handles them deftly.

And it’s such a lovely story at its heart—because, truly, it’s a book about hearts and those you love and who love you. I defy you to read this book and not fall in love with Sunny St. James. She is a character who will stick with you long after you read the last page. Blake has created yet another lasting story through her magical words. I highly recommend this book. 4.5 stars.

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I LOVED this right from the start, which is saying a lot because I am squeamish (pathetically even scared of my flu shot) and not very into romance stories. But THIS book is amazing, even though it has those topics. Because it also has Sunny, a funny 12 year old overflowing with feelings and creativity and boldness. Her life has been a mess recently, and she is not afraid to tell us all about it as she forges ahead with her new life plans. The first few pages of The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James get right to Sunny's experiences with a heart transplant. If you are squeamish about medical stuff, you might want skim those few pages. After that, Sunny continues to be very straightforward and real with us about her life, but without so show more many medical details. She focuses a lot on friendships and her romantic goals. Specifically, now that Sunny is recovering from heart surgery and can get back to her life, she wants to kiss a boy for the first time. Read this to find out how Sunny deals with major changes to her family, and romantic plans that do not turn out how she thought. show less

After getting a heart transplant, Sunny has a plan for a new life, including finding a best friend and kissing a boy. She did not count on falling for Quinn, her new best friend, or that her biological mother Lena wants to be a part of her life. The dialog is natural, rings true, it’s not too much, no one is too precocious, the girls are just girls, trying to figure out what’s in their hearts. I like the relationship between Kate and Sunny. Kate is uptight but she’s a loving solid presence for Sunny, The fact that Sunny likes Quinn but also thinks she could like boys too is a new thing for a children’s book. She’s not too freaked out, she denies her feelings for a great part of the book but she also recognizes there’s a show more spark of something even as she denies it. For a young reader who might be as confused to see it’s okay to like boys and girls. show less

Really enjoyable story, but whoa, Sunny has a lot going on -- heart transplant, mother abandonment/return, girl crush, newly discovered love of writing poetry, and surfing, and dealing with a big best friend betrayal... so much! Love the characters, love the supportive and loving environment that Sunny lives in, and I think Blake does an amazing job capturing the initial confused rebelliousness of 12-13 and how everything gets hard at once. Also the push-pull of tween rebelliousness/ need for support. It's a great book.

The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James is a 2020 Lone Star novel.

Sunny's new life means that she wants to experience life, but Kate (her guardian) protects her by limiting her activities. Sunny receives a heart transplant at the beginning of the novel; her thoughts on death may disturb some of you who are more sensitive. I cringed a bit. The successful transplant means that Sunny can actually move about instead of gasping for breath. Her main goal consists of kissing a boy. This goal sounds silly, but there's a lot attached to it. Sunny told her best friend that she wondered about kissing girls, too. You do learn what happened, but I'm not giving it away here. Essentially, Sunny refuses to talk to or see her former best friend. Sunny is show more determined to kiss a boy now that she isn't dead.

After recovering, Sunny swims in the ocean and meets Quinn. This new girl on their small island wants to be friends with Sunny and they hit it off. Quinn doesn't know about Sunny's operation, which is nice for a while. Sunny doesn't have to be the "sick" girl for a while. Quinn agrees to go on the kissing quest with Sunny and find a boy to kiss--any old boy. Sunny has another relationship that causes confusion. Her biological mother returns. She couldn't raise Sunny and gave Sunny to her best friend, Kate. Lena, her biological mom, doesn't treat Sunny like she'll die at any moment. In fact, she teaches Sunny to surf. Lena has made bad decisions in the past and claims she wants to be around for Sunny from now on. These two relationship make Sunny choose what and who are important to her. She has to deal with past hurts from her best friend and her mother. She has to decide who she truly is as a person.

This novel represents a solid middle school novel. The former best friend is not developed; whether she is "bad" or just misunderstood is not developed. She is judged by one incident by the reader because we get little else. We never know what she's thinking. I loved Kate and Dave. Sunny teases them constantly; she tells them they need to go ahead and kiss. She knows they love each other, but they both just turn shades of red and claim to be friends when teased. Overall, Sunny's character is most developed. We see her struggle with her conflicts--from life and death to whether or not she likes boys and/or girls to how to handle Kate and her biological mom within her life. Quinn is almost too good to be true, but her honesty & bravery are refreshing. It's a pleasant novel. show less

Sunny St. James is reinventing herself after a heart transplant. She decides she is going to meet a new best friend and get her first kiss. When she meets Quinn swimming in the ocean, the girls hit it off immediately. Sunny's former best friend betrayed her and Quinn is someone new who doesn't know everything about her like everyone else on the island. When Sunny's mom who has been gone for 8 years, show up when she's in the hospital it is a lot to process. When Sunny begins to wonder if Quinn is the one for her first kiss. Emotional and touching.

Sunny St. James has a lot going on. She's just had a heart transplant. The mother who abandoned her 8 years ago (when Sunny was 4 years old) has come back. Sunny's best friend, Margot, announced Sunny's secret (that she thought about kissing girls) to Margot's friends, who laughed at Sunny.

While all this is going on, Quinn, the girl with blue hair, comes into Sunny's life, turning it all upside down, making her stomach do flip flops and her heart go thump-thump-thump. They immediately become best friends and set out on a quest to kiss a boy that summer. ..although, apparently, neither one's heart is in that specific quest.

An enjoyable book about sellf realization, friends, family and kissing. Go f or it.