Penny from Heaven (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780375836893)

Newbery Honor-winning, New York Times-bestselling, and as full of fun and adventure as it is of deeper family issues--now with striking new cover art!

School's out for summer, and Penny and her cousin Frankie have big plans to eat lots of butter pecan ice cream, swim at the local pool, and cheer on their favorite baseball team--the Brooklyn Dodgers! But sometimes things don't go according to plan. Penny's mom doesn't want her to swim because she's afraid Penny will get polio. Frankie is constantly getting into trouble, and Penny feels caught between the two sides of her family. But even if the summer doesn't exactly start as planned . . . things can work out in the most unexpected ways!

Set just after World War II, this thought-provoking novel also highlights the prejudice Penny's Italian American family must confront because people of Italian descent were "the enemy" not long ago.

Inspired by three-time Newbery Honor winner Jennifer Holm's own Italian American family, Penny from Heaven is a story about families--about the things that tear them apart and the things that bring them back together.

Includes an author's note with photographs and background on World War II, internment camps, and 1950s America, as well as additional resources and websites.

"Holm's deft storytelling is at once rosy, rounded, and realistic." --San Francisco Chronicle

Author: Jennifer L. Holm
ISBN-10: 0375836896
ISBN-13: 9780375836893
Publisher: Yearling Books
Language: English
Published: 12/26/2007
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.44lbs
Size: 7.62h x 5.36w x 0.69d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4
Point Value: 7
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 108040 / Penny from Heaven

Award: Iowa Children's Choice (ICCA) Award - Nominee
Award: Young Hoosier Book Award - Nominee

Review Citation(s):
PW Notes and Reprints 12/24/2007 pg. 58