The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James by Ashley Herring Blake

The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James

by Ashley Herring Blake

When Sunny St. James receives a new heart, she decides to set off on a New Life Plan: 1) do awesome amazing things she could never do before; 2) find a new best friend; and 3) kiss a boy for the first time. Her New Life Plan seems to be racing forward, but when she meets her new best friend Quinn, Sunny questions whether she really wants to kiss a boy at all. With the reemergence of her mother, Sunny begins a journey to becoming the new Sunny St. James.

As with Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World, the sophomore middle grade novel by Ashley Herring Blake adds to the slowly growing, but still small list of queer MG titles. The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James is a gorgeous follow-up to Ivy Aberdeen as a novel about grief, loss, discovery, friendship, and the power in being oneself, no matter what.

Reviewed by leahrosereads on

5 of 5 stars

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Such a fantastic, heartwarming and sometimes heartwrenching story. I absolutely adored Sunny as a MC. She was so strong in the aftermath of surgery, and navigating life, discovering her mom and crushes and heartbreak.

I wish characters like this existed or were prevalent when I was 13. Could have definitely seen myself and not felt so alone with all the girl crushes I had. Glad generations have Sunny now though!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 4 March, 2020: Finished reading
  • 4 March, 2020: Reviewed