GUEST WRITER KATIE PRESCOTT RECOMMENDS WAYS TO MAKE SUNSHINE BY RENEE WATSON
Renee Watson’s Ways to Make Sunshine is a sweet story following Ryan Hart, a young girl working though the struggles of life. When her Dad loses his job, and her family needs to move to a smaller house due to money being tight, Ryan is disheartened and worried about what her new life might look like. While navigating her new normal, Ryan comes to understand what her mom means in her reminder, “Ryan, we’ll all still be together. This is just a house. We are the ones who make it a home. Home is wherever we go” (p.16). Ways to Make Sunshine celebrates family, friendship, and home.
Throughout her fourth-grade year, Ryan struggles with new realizations around race, class, gender, and social injustice. Her wit, determination, and kind heart guide her journey towards self-identity and always finding the joy – the sunshine – in hard times. There may not have been a better year for this publication!
I couldn’t agree more with the comparison the publisher and other reviewers make between Ryan Hart and Ramona Quimby. Ryan Hart, with her independence, spunk, and integrity, is sure to steal a piece of each reader’s heart with this first book in Renee Watson’s new series. I am already looking forward to reading the second book in the series, Ways to Grow Love, which will be published this year.
Katie Prescott is a believer in the power of story and a lover of family, food, and the outdoors.