Ways to Make Sunshine by Renee Watson
Ryan Hart, a next-generation Ramona Quimby, makes sunshine out of challenges in this warm-hearted series opener.
Ways to Make Sunshine by Renee Watson. Bloomsbury, 2020, 175 pages.
Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 8-10
Recommended for: ages 7-11, or 5-10 as a read-aloud
Ryan’s name means “king”–that’s her comeback when people observe it’s a boy’s name. It’s a leader’s name, and Ryans parents gave it to her because they want her to feel powerful when her name is called. Not in a bossy way, but in a self-assured way. But how do you feel powerful when your dad loses his job? and the landlord decides to sell the house you’re living in? and the house you’re moving to is smaller and doesn’t feel like home? Circumstances do get in the way of feeling powerful, but it’s those very circumstances that build emotional muscle.
Ryan Hart is marketed as a next-generation Ramona Quimby of a different color. Besides calling Portland home, like Beverly Cleary’s lovable creation, Ryan’s adventures follow a similar episodic pattern: challenges with the move, a mystery about previous occupants of the new house, a snarky white girl, a long-standing fear of public speaking. If, like Ramona, Ryan has further adventures in store, she’ll meet them with the same spunky trepidation, backed up by loving parents and a loyal, if annoying, older brother. Young readers in the 3rd-5th-grade range will enjoy spending time with her, and may even pick up some tips on “making sunshine.”
Overall Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)
Worldview/moral value: 4Artistic/literary value: 4.5We are participants in the Amazon LLC affiliate program; purchases you make through affiliate links like the one below may earn us a commission. Read more here.
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More at Redeemed Reader:
See our starred review of Betty before X, by Renee Watson and Ilyasah Shabazz (daughter of Malcolm X).Also by Renee Watson: Piecing Me Together is about finding one’s identity through art; Some Places More than Others is about the importance of family heritage.The post Ways to Make Sunshine by Renee Watson appeared first on Redeemed Reader.
