Sunny Parker Is Here to Stay

by Margaret Finnegan

A determined girl spends the summer before middle school learning to stand up for her low-income community in this funny, fast-paced read just right for fans of Kelly Yang’s Front Desk .

Sunny Parker loves the Del Mar Garden Apartments, the affordable housing complex where she lives. And she especially loves her neighbors. From her best friend, Haley Michaels, to Mrs. Garcia and her two kids—developmentally disabled son AJ and bitter but big-hearted daughter Izzy—every resident has a story and a special place in Sunny’s heart.

Sunny never thought living at the Del Mar Garden Apartments made her different—until the city proposes turning an old, abandoned school into a new affordable housing complex and the backlash of her affluent neighborhood teaches Sunny the hard way that not everyone appreciates the community she calls home. Her dad, the Del Mar’s manager-slash-handyman, wants Sunny to lay low. But as hurtful rhetoric spreads and the city’s public hearing approaches, Sunny realizes that sometimes there’s too much at stake to stay silent.

With her friends behind her, Sunny Parker is determined to change the narrative—because she and her community are here to stay!

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Activism

288 pages, Hardcover

First published April 23, 2024

About the author

Margaret Finnegan's work has appeared in Salon, LA Times, FamilyFun and other publications. She is the author of the middle-grade novel, WE COULD BE HEROES (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)--NOW A JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTION!

She lives in Southern California with her husband, two children, and her dog, Walt. She loves baking, soft-serve ice cream, and walking her dog.

Reviews

[Glenna Coleman]

Sunny is used to bringing the sunshine and blue skies for her dad, manager of the Del Mar Garden Apartments, but this summer might prove to be an exception. The summer before seventh grade becomes a time for Sunny to wrestle with the idea that adults don't always mean what they say. When the community begins a debate about the use of a no-longer-used school site, most people take one of two routes: campaign against building affordable housing to avoid having their lifestyles disrupted, or, hide from the issue in the hopes that the Del Mar Garden Apartments, an affordable housing complex, will remain under the radar. Sunny, however, took to heart the mayor's words that kids' voices matter. Against her father's wishes, Sunny engages in a campaign to create affordable housing, because if the community believes that people who live in affordable housing are bad people, that means they think Sunny is bad, too. Along the way, Sunny learns about adults not wanting to get involved in domestic abuse situations, and how to help in a way that is respectful and safe. She also begins to learn how to talk to her dad about her thoughts and feelings.

[Jessica Harrison]

Sunny Parker is a quirky character that immediately grabs your attention with the usual middle-grade antics — you can’t speak while your cursed by an old woman in the complex unless someone triple paprika’s you or you’ll die type of antics. Sunny’s voice is clear and strong from the start. And she won’t let a bad haircut — think weed whacker — stop her from accomplishing her goals.

Author Margaret Finnegan’s writing is comfortable and inviting. And her exploration of community and what that means is strong. This will especially resonate with readers who may be experiencing gentrification in their own neighborhoods.

Sunny Parker is Here to Stay is an entertaining read about acceptance and friendship. It moves fairly quickly and has a good flow. Though Sunny is entering into middle school, she reads a bit young, making this book more suitable for 8-11-year-olds.

[Suzy]

What a great book about finding who you are and being proud of it.
Sunny doesn't think her or anyone who lives at Del Mar Gardens are poor or a sore thumb for the city. She loves her home and the people who live there. But when the city wants to build another low income housing apartment, she learns that things aren't always as they seem.
But she's proud of this place and her friends that feel like family. And she will do what it takes to stick up for them.
Sunny really learns about income levels and how they can affect people and how some people are judge by that. I really liked Sunny and thought she was very brave for standing up for what she believes in.
A great middle grade read about being accepting of others.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

[Erin Buhr]

Sunny Parker is on summer break and while that sounds like fun, in reality it isn’t great when your dad has to work as caretaker of your building and your friends are all busy.
Sunny lives in an affordable housing complex in an affluent neighborhood and this summer she starts to see it in a different light when the neighbors voice their disapproval of more affordable housing being built. Sunny is determined to change minds. With a colorful cast of apartment residents and one strong willed girl at the helm, this book champions the difference one small voice can make.

I love the community that surrounds Sunny. I love how this book tackles some hard and complex issues in a middle grade friendly way. And I love the empowering example that Sunny sets for other kids.

[Pam Page]

A nice new middle grade book that deals with affordable housing and Sunny, a character who wants to stand up for what she believes in and is proud of who she is and where she lives. Four stars because while I understand not all middle grade needs to have parents that I love, Sunny's dad was fearful of standing out because he might lose his job. Yet, Sunny still followed through on her beliefs so I applaud the author for giving her the strength and perseverence to do what she felt was right. I did not care for the dad ignoring the abuse a neighbor was enduring - that would have been a great message for kids to read (it's not often that a child can intercede with physical abuse).

[Ava F]

This is a fantastic book! Sunny is on summer vacation and it mostly takes place around her apartment building, where she helps her dad as he is the manager. Throughout the story we are introduced to different hard topics like eviction, homelessness (unhoused), poverty, domestic violence/abuse, and racism. I did learn a lot of things from this book and I liked that Sunny and her friends fought for what they felt was right even when the adults told them not to. It also has a good lesson in overcoming self doubt and fear.

[Vicky]

When Sunny finds out the city wants to make more affordable housing she finds out people are worried about traffic and noise and overloading the schools. Sunny wonders how could affordable housing ruin schools or the town. Her best friend says let’s do a petition and bring it to the housing authority hearing. They want people to realize we’re nice people and not criminals. Some says let’s give more lower-income people a chance to live in our town. What happens when Sunny and her dad go to the council meeting? Is the housing proposal accepted or rejected?

[MeganRuth - Alohamora Open a Book]

3 stars for a solid middle grade book for the activist.

This inspiring middle-grade 📖 shows how even young kids can make a difference in their communities. Sunny Parker is an 11-year-old determined to stand up for affordable housing in her wealthy town, as she learns that anyone, no matter their age, can fight for what’s right.

This is a great read and read aloud for kids to realize the power they have to bring about positive change!

Thank you @blue_slip_media and @simonkids for sharing this one w me. 😊

[MaryAnne]

Sunny, a tween, and her friend becomes activists in petitioning the City Council to build more government housing. I enjoyed the storyline and would normally give it 4-stars but at times it felt a little preachy. And I wish the character, AJ, who is on the autism spectrum was used more in the storyline.

[Courtney]

The dad was a worry, he was kind of a bad dad. I do like the sister who drove them everywhere and helped them in their civic revolution. I kind of wish this book had been written from her perspective as a YA novel rather than from Sunny's.

[LS Johnson]

author writes from a place of lived-experience with low income housing; engaging story

[Corian Clark]

This book dealt with a lot of difficult topics in a good way for middle grade readers but it made the book feel long and a bit boring because it was informative.

[Ms. Yingling]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Sunny loves living at the Del Mar Gardens affordable housing community in Monroe Heights, where her father is a manager. Her friend Haley Michaels, who is Black, lives close by, and she spends a lot of time with Mrs. Garcia and her children, who include AJ, who is developmentally disabled. Mrs. Garcia often goes with Sunny on Neighborhood Favor walks to pick tomatoes or berries that people post on the app, and always introduces her son to any new police officers like Officer Edwards. Sunny's not as fond of Sourpus Scanlon, an elderly woman whom the children say curses them if she talks to them. This "Scanlon Curse" means they can't speak until someone says "paprika, paprika, paprika" to them or they'll be dead in 24 hours, and they will have seven years of bad luck if they tell an adult! The neighborhood is changing, and the smaller houses are being torn down, and rich people are building larger homes. There is an abandoned school nearby, and there is talk about using the land to add more affordable housing. At a birthday party for classmates Lark and Chase, Sunny hears adults talking about how such a development would negatively affect the community by bringing in poorer people; they would rather have a park that would benefit everyone. Sunny (rightly so) takes this to mean that people in her neighborhood don't want her there. She and her friends go around Del Mar Gardens getting signatures on a petition to take to the local council. There's also some concern that there is a ghost boy in the area, but this is later found to be a woman who is moaning because her partner has beaten her. Sunny wants to help the woman, and puts her in contact with Officer Edwards. Will Sunny be able to change the minds of the people in the neighborhood and get them to support more affordable housing.

Neighborhoods are often so isolated and fragmented that young readers enjoy seeing apartment houses or neighborhoods were there is a sense of community. I'm fortunate to live on a circle of about 25 houses where I know every family and am in charge of printing up a map with everyone's contact information every year, and even I like to read about even closer communities! Sunny's world is nicely diverse, and has a wide variety of characters with whom to interact. I also enjoyed that it was safe enough for her to wander around and have adventures. The neighbors at Del Mar Gardens are all supportive, even Mrs. Scanlon at the end, and Sunny manages to convince at least one of the rich people to support Del Mar Gardens.

A note at the end discusses the author's own upbringing in a similar community that lends a nice nice of authenticity to the book. Finnegan's love of this setting is evident, and brings a lot of great characters and texture to the story. When I growing up in the suburbs, I was always fascinated by stories set in apartment buildings in cities. This is a great "mirror and window" book.

This author's Susie B. Won't Back Down and New Kids and Underdogs is a hit with young readers who will also love the details of Sunny's home, the "Scanlon Curse", and all of the neighbors.

Since cities have seen what costs the "urban renewal" of the 1960s and 70s had to communities of color, it's interesting to see the tide turn, and to see gentrification projects get push back. This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed other books about communities affected by similar initiatives, like Nelson's The Umbrella House, Vivat's Meet Me on Mercer Street, McDunn's Trouble at the Tangerine, or LaCoer and Albert's The Apartment House on Poppy Hill.

[Marie S.]

Enjoyed this story and appreciated the perspective it offered on diverse community life. Sunny is an engaging character who carries the plot well. I appreciated the variety of experiences depicted in the storyline and felt like it did a good job of bringing awareness to real issues that families in urban communities may face. I appreciated the realistic components of the story.