Module Ten: Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm
Bibliography
Holm, J. L. (2006). Penny from heaven. New York, NY: Yearling.Summary
Penny's life isn't easy. It's summertime in 1953 New Jersey, and the 11-year-old is surrounded by a loving family who doesn't get along. Although, for the life of her, she doesn't know why because no one will talk about it. Penny lives with her non-Italian mother and grandparents, and visits frequently with her deceased father's Italian family, who live nearby. Caught in the middle, she is curious about her father but neither side seems willing to discuss it. Meanwhile, her mother has started dating the milkman, and Penny is not happy about this at all. When Penny is involved in a devastating accident, however, her family is forced to come together, for better or for worse.
My Impressions
This is a sweet, poignant coming-of-age story about a girl crushed by the loss of her father -- a fact that is made much worse by the people around her, who attempt to bury their sadness by avoiding the subject altogether. Penny's frustration is palpable. The fact that her mother has started dating and seems to be moving on from Penny's father makes it all the more difficult to process. One of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the story is her accident with the wringer on the washing machine, and Penny's uncertain fate following it. As a side note, Holm includes some interesting features at the end of the novel: an author's note detailing her reasons for writing the book and a family album with photos of her Italian family.
Reviews
School Library Journal"Take a trip back to 1953 in Jennifer L. Holm’s charming story (Random, 2006). Eleven-year-old Penny lives in New Jersey and walks a tightrope between two families. On one side are her widowed mother, her irascible grandfather, and her cooking-disabled grandmother with whom she lives. On the other side are her deceased father’s Italian family with an abundance of loving aunts and uncles and a Nonny who makes the best cannoli around. The two families don’t interact and Penny understands it has something to do with her father’s death, but nobody will talk about it. Penny’s biggest problems this summer are convincing her mother she won’t catch polio from the community pool, keeping her cousin Frankie from scrapes with the law, and discouraging the milkman from courting her mother. Told in vignette style, Amber Sealey’s narration enhances the telling. She effortlessly slips in and out of voices ranging from a young girl, a mischievous boy, a sobbing Italian grandmother, and a Brooklyn inflection that would make Tony Soprano proud. Inspired by the author’s Italian-American family, the plot is a bit weak, but warmth and humor abound."
Publisher's Weekly
"A youthful voice serves Sealey well as A narrator of this offbeat period piece chronicling the colorful experiences of 11-year-old Penny Falucci during the summer of 1953. Penny plans to have a dream summer vacation spending time at the local pool, eating butter pecan ice cream and listening to her beloved Brooklyn Dodgers on the radio with one of her many uncles or cousins. But not all happens according to plan when she suffers a devastating household accident. As Penny struggles to recover, she learns an ugly truth about her father's death years ago and comes to understand the estrangement between her mother's family and her father's boisterous Italian clan. Holm's plot has surprising twists and turns and plenty of evocative flavor, all of which give Sealey room to stretch a bit. Her crisp, even rhythm complements the pace of the unfolding drama."
Use in the Library
Like Holm did, elementary and middle school children could be encouraged to create their own family album, either literally with photos or figuratively by creating a family tree.This could be used in an "Ellis Island" display of books dealing children who are second generation Americans.
Melgaard, T. (2006). Penny from heaven. [Review of the book Penny from Heaven]. School Library Journal, 52(11), 64.
Penny from Heaven. (2006). [Review of the book Penny from Heaven]. Publishers Weekly, 253(41), 57.
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