The Mighty Heart of Sunny St James is a very heartwarming story! Students will enjoy reading about the choices Sunny has to make when a new girl shows up and her mom tries to get back into her life. Highly recommended for middle school student who enjoyed The Truth about Jellyfish and Song for a Whale.

Sunny has so much going on. So much!
Blended family to navigate her feelings about.. a friendship that’s strained.. a heart transplant.. and that strong urge to kiss a human! It’s a lot to contain in one body heart and mind. But she does it. She does it like how on some level we all do.

This one was heartfelt.

A great middle grade addition for the classroom. I love the way this one does representation in a really matter of fact way (a Latina important character whose mom is a badass scientist :) or some other characters that I won’t spoil..). And it’s queer! And it’s navigating multiple types of relationships from parental to friendship to romantic interests (with consent / honoring how hard and conflicting it can all feel). Also it’s based by the ocean, which heals all the things and is the perfect setting.

Lovely. Excited to read more of this author’s work / excited to see what students think of this one.

I loved Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World so when I heard that Ashley Herring Blake had another middle grade novel coming out, I knew I had to read it. Of course, my expectations were fully met and I utterly adored The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James.

Sunny St. James is getting a new heart. She hasn’t done much in the past few years because of her heart condition but now she finally made it to the top of the transplant list. With a new heart, she thinks it’s time for “New Sunny”. And “New Sunny” has a new life plan, she needs to experience new things, find a new best friend and kiss a boy. But as Sunny meets a potential new best friend and her mother returns to town, she realizes that being a “New Sunny” may be harder than she realized.

I loved Blake’s writing and I always feel that her writing ability always presents a strong clear voice. Sunny was such a unique character and I could totally picture her as a real 12 year old. While the novel’s themes were sometimes a bit intense, I feel like Sunny was truly a phenomenal character. I think that there would be so many people who would relate to various parts of Sunny’s journey. Her thoughts hit very close to home for me in ways I didn’t expect and I think that many readers would relate.

Overall, The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James was a phenomenal middle grade novel that I definitely recommend for all ages.

This book was absolutely amazing! I really wish I had had Ashley's books when I was a young Mormon girl in complete and total denial about my feelings for other girls. Little McKinlay really needed these types of books and I am so happy they exist now!

The heart transplant as a metaphor for character is nothing new. This is, of course, a throwback to the idea that the heart is the home of the soul. We still attribute a great deal of personality and decision making to that organ, leading to characters asking "who am I now that I bear someone else's heart". The variation here is Sunny deciding to become a better stronger person to honor her donor. Blake presents us with an interesting range of relationships, both with parental figures and peers. Once lifelong relationships damaged beyond repair by natural changes in people and by circumstance. I like that the parent situation is portrayed as considerably more complex than that with peers.

Sunny has just had a heart transplant which is pretty scary. But now she has a new life and she wants to take advantage of it... but that's scary too. She is finally meeting the mom who abandoned her 8 years ago, she has a new best friend after her former friend told her secrets, and she is desperate to find someone to love, to kiss. But she wonders... about so many things but especially about her confusing feelings for Quinn.
I didn't know this was the same author as Ivy Aberdeen when I picked it out - I read so many eBooks at this time of year that I often don't notice things like that. It makes sense and I think this one is even better than Ivy Aberdeen - the poems, the confusion, and the heart. I thought it was really good.

I love Ashley Herring Blake's books so much and I think this one may be my favorite yet. 

There's a lot going on with Sunny. I feel like any of these things are so much for a kid to deal with, but (a) she just had a heart transplant and is re-learning how to be healthy, (b) her biological mom is suddenly back in the picture and (c) she totally likes girls. (We think it's in addition to boys, but she's a kid and we don't need to define her sexuality.)

Between all three of these things, she's basically having this complete perfect storm of a summer. And I felt so awful for her because of that, because again, it is SO MUCH.

But Sunny is really sort of this perfect, brave girl. She's scared of so much but she keeps going anyway. She gets angry a lot but works through it. I love people who aren't too scared to do things, and that's Sunny. She will figure it out as she goes and she's good at it.

I adored this book. Highly recommended.

Blake writes about preteens questioning sexual orientation with such delicacy and honesty. She also just generally understands how the preteen mind works--the angst, those complicated relationships with friends and family, trying to fit in...There are definitely some middle grade tropes (parting ways with a best friend, a parent abandoning you, suffering from serious illness…) but none of it felt predictable to me. Sunny also dealt with her confusing feelings with poetry--which was sprinkled throughout the chapters. Loved this one!

I adored this book. It's a middle grade book about a girl who likes girls, but it's so much more than that. It sidesteps labels, but tells a story with authenticity and so much emotion. I couldn't put it down.

Ashley Herring Blake stole my heart. This story is beautiful and magical and truly magnificent. I adored Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World and Girl Made of Stars, so it's not surprising that I loved her newest story. This middle grade book about a young girl trying to navigate this complex world was so touching and Blake manages to harness the voice of the 12-year-old protagonist effortlessly. Sunny is brave and real, and her quest to become "New Life Sunny" was intense and difficult. Quinn and Sunny's growing relationship was masterfully handled, and I cannot wait to recommend this to readers of all ages. The world needs more stories like this, and I'm thankful to Blake for gifting us with her magical talent.
Thank you Little, Brown Books for Young Readers & NetGalley for the advanced copy, this will be my top recommendation for several months!

Ashley Herring Blake continues to deliver when it comes to providing complex, warm, and hopeful stories for sapphic girls and teens. This book is everything I wanted it to be and more. I wish I could live inside the feeling this book gives me forever.

Sunny has had cardiomyopathy for two years, but has just been told she will have her heart transplant. The woman who has raised her, Kate, knows that she is afraid, but is supportive. Once Sunny has the surgery, Lena, her biological mother shows up. Lena was a friend of Kate's, but struggled with alcoholism after the motorcycle death of Sunny's father, and gave up custody to Kate. Kate owns a bookstore on an east coast island, hangs out with long time friend (an crush) Dave, and is over protective of Sunny. When Sunny is recuperating, she is allowed an outing to the beach. There, she meets Quinn, whose mother is a marine photographer who is staying on the island for the summer. The two quickly become fast friends and decide that they will embark on a "kissing quest" to find a boy to kiss for the first time. Sunny has fallen out with her friend Margot over a secret that Margot blabbed to members of her swim team after Sunny got sick, so she is glad to have someone to hang out with. Lena visits, and Sunny is finally able to get some information about her past. As she spends more time with Quinn, Sunny begins to realize that she would really rather kiss Quinn than a boy, but she doesn't want to lose her friendship. The physical recuperation goes slowly and hits some rough spots, and the emotional recuperation does as well, especially when it comes to Kate and Lena's relationship. Eventually, Sunny is able to be true to herself, Quinn, and even Margot, and forges a new normalcy for herself and her family.

Strengths: Aside from Pitchford's Nickel Bay Nick, I can't think of any books that deal with a child who has had a heart transplant. The medical details and plot are a nice foil for the family and relationships issues; any one of these alone could have become boring, but together, it made for an intriguing tale. The problems with Margot are realistic, as are the problems with Lena. There are more and more young readers with nontraditional families, so it's important to see this reflected in the literature. Quinn and Sunny's relationship is similar to the one in this author's Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World, and my students enjoy that book.
Weaknesses: Sunny and Quinn are both very nervous about liking girls, which lends a more YA level of angst to a middle grade story. Even in my middle class, Midwestern school, students (especially the girls) seem to be completely unphased by students who identify as any manner of LGBTQ+. Still, all stories are different. I'm just old enough that I have no patience for angst in any relationships, fictional or otherwise!
What I Really Think: I will definitely purchase, and it is nice to see an LGBTQ+ story that doesn't involve heavy drinking and way more details than anyone needs to know.

Ashley Herring Blake has created yet another magical middle grade story. Sunny St. James stole my heart, which is a bit selfish of someone who was given a new one within the story. Sunny's exploration of her friendships and attractions was so realistic and heartwarming that I wanted to hug the book to my chest. The representation was awesome and, as always, I look forward to what Blake does next.

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing me a copy of this gorgeous book.
I was so excited to read it, after loving Ivy Aberdeen earlier this year, and Sunny St. James did NOT disappoint. Ivy Aberdeen may have won my heart to Ashley Herring Blake's writing, but Sunny St. James absolutely stole it.
This book is a piece of art throughout. Sunny is a fully-realized multilayered character with different worries and interests, allowing this book to avoid the sadly common pitfalls of making her only defining trait her sexuality. All of the characters in the book have clearly defined wants and needs, and there was not a single character who didn't come across as a real person to me. From Lena, to Kate, to Quinn, to Margot, and even accidentally-punched-in-the-nose Sam, everyone shone in their own way.
This book is the perfect blend of "happy ending wish fulfillment" and realism, making it the perfect read for anyone. I have already highly recommended this book to a ton of my coworkers, and can't wait until it is published so I can recommend it to patrons too.
Thank you, Ashley Herring Blake. You've done it again.