A Place to Shine

Arnold, Marie. A Place to Shine
June 11, 2024 by Versify
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Ten-year-old Sundae "Sunny" Williams and her brother Milan have been living with their grandmother, Nanna Jo, in their Chicago neighborhood since the death of their parents in a car accident. Sunny has a best friend, Folake, who lives with her large and supportive Nigerian family, but also has to deal with mean girls like Tessa Graves at school. When she accidentally runs into Tessa, she is challenged to a fight, but manages to avoid one when she tells Tessa that she must have a "battle bracelet" to go through with the challenge, or she will lose someone close to her. This isn't the worst part of Sunny's day. When she gets home, she finds the police outside, and sees Nanna Jo being taken away to the Shady Glen Nursing Center because she has been wandering around and seems to have diminished mental faculties. Somehow, the children are overlooked by social services, so with Folake's help, sneak into the basement of the school to avoid foster care. They run into a new music teacher, Mr. Evens, who is setting up his classroom, but manage to spend the night in the basement. Sunny tells Milan a story that Nanna Jo had told her, The Girl of Fire and Light, and realizes that she must have been told that story because she needs to go on the same quest as the protagonist, Luna. This will cure Nanna Jo's dementia and allow her and her brother to return home. This involves getting a seashell kissed by a mermaid, a hair from a manticore, and Gorgon tears. Folake is willing to go along with this quest, but when Sunny and Milan are once again discovered by Mr. Evens, the children worry that they won't be able to fulfill it. There's no one in the foster care system who can take both children, and when he hears that the two will be split up, Mr. Evens, who had taken the training to be certified as a foster parent with his wife Maya, hears this, he reluctantly agrees to take the children. The school has been chosen to participate in a fall music festival, and Sunny hopes to get a good role. She manages to approximate the quest, getting a seashell from someone at the community pool and a hair from Folake's brother Abeo who is wearing half of a lion costume for Halloween, but when Sunny and Folake fall out, the quest is in jeopardy. Will Sunny be able to help her grandmother return to her former self? If she cannot, what will happen to her and Milan?
Strengths: There are an increasing number of children being raised by grandparents, so Sunny's plight will resonate with young readers who might also have a grandparent with memory problems. Mr. Evens is a complex character, and his gruff demeanor is explained by his past, which he is able to overcome in order to take care of children who need him. The friend drama with Folake, who starts to hang out with classmates who have bedeviled Sunny, is realistic. I loved how well Sunny tried to look out for her younger brother. 
Weaknesses: The idea that Sunny believed that she could cure her grandmother by completing a quest made her seem very young. Middle school students might not believe this, although some elementary students might. This is more like this author's The Year I Flew Away than her upper middle grade I Rise. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who are interested in books involving children in foster care, like Lackey's All the Impossible Things, Hennessey's The Echo Park Castaways or O'Shaughnessy's Lasagna Means I Love You.