Newbery HonorтАУwinning, New York TimesтАУbestselling, and as full of fun and adventure as it is of deeper family issues.
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SchoolтАЩs 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 teamтАФthe Brooklyn Dodgers! But sometimes things donтАЩt go according to plan. PennyтАЩs mom doesnтАЩt want her to swim because sheтАЩs 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 doesnтАЩt exactly start as planned . . . things can work out in the most unexpected ways!
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Set just after World War II, this thought-provoking novel also highlights the prejudice PennyтАЩs Italian American family must confront because people of Italian descent were тАЬthe enemyтАЭ not long ago.
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Inspired by three-time Newbery Honor winner Jennifer HolmтАЩs own Italian American family, Penny from Heaven is a story about familiesтАФabout the things that tear them apart and the things that bring them back together.
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Includes an authorтАЩs note with photographs and background on World War II, internment camps, and 1950s America, as well as additional resources and websites.
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Booklist:
тАЬHolm impressively wraps pathos with comedy in this coming-of-age story, populated by a cast of vivid characters.тАЭ