The eponymous Sunny Holiday is our narrator. She is bright, upbeat, and fun. She is a delightful character. Unfortunately, I didn't get a feeling that I knew any of the characters other than her much at all. Nor was there a clear focus to the plot. The various plot elements seem to bounce about sort of haphazardly, without ever focusing sufficiently on any one element.

I liked Sunny so much, I wanted this book to really go somewhere, but I never felt that it did. ( )

I've no doubt some cynical folk are going to be all scornful of this, but I found it truly inspirational, with some terrific ideas that would definitely have helped me when I was poor, and some that will help me feel more gratitude now that I'm comfortable. No, it's not Christian, or righteous, or a manipulative tear-jerker. But it is a fun quick read that will brighten, if not your life, at least your day. Give it a chance! I hope I can find the sequel(s).

Meanwhile, one of the best ideas that anyone can adopt is to make a list of all the things one can enjoy/appreciate that are free. Love, singing, sunshine, etc. etc. Use colored markers on a poster board, or sew a little book from scratch paper, or decorate a school notebook, to make it special. If you have friends, there are a lot more fun things you can do to strengthen your spirits. ( )

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

Sunny Holiday is a spunky little fourth grader. She may live on the "wrong side of the tracks" and get teased by the "bus girls," but she always looks at the bright side of everything.

Her mother may work endless hours cleaning rooms at the hotel across the river, but Sunny keeps her chin up and carries on. Her father may have made a mistake that landed him in prison for the better part of another year, but Sunny puts a smile on her face and is thankful for the things in life that are free.

Sunny and her friend, Jazzy, do just about everything together. They both have cats, and they love to create new games to play and projects to accomplish. Sunny's latest scheme is to create a holiday for every month. She explains to Jazzy that six of the twelve months have pretty cool holidays, but the other six are seriously lacking.

January is her first goal. She's thinking something to celebrate on about the twentieth of the month would certainly help break things up until Valentine's Day arrives in February.

This is a fun book for the elementary crowd. They will easily relate to Sunny's desire to have a kid-friendly holiday in every month, and her disappointment that the mayor's promise of a new park in her neighborhood turned into a half-dozen scraggly trees instead. The underlying theme of the need to pass the state's standarized test is an element of the story that might make it a worthwhile read-aloud for a fourth grade classroom.

This one is a bit young for my students so I'm planning to pass it along to the fourth grade teachers in our elementary building. I'm sure Sunny will make another appearance someday if author Coleen Murtagh Paratore has anything to say about it. ( )