Sunny Rolls the Dice
by
Jennifer L. Holm ,Matthew Holm
Edition
Hardcover edition
Publisher
Scholastic
Imprint
Graphix
ISBN
9781338233155
Awards and Honors
NPR’s Book Concierge - 2019
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
None
Too cool for school…or the least groovy girl in the grade?
Sunny's just made it to middle school…and it's making her life very confusing. All her best friend Deb wants to talk about is fashion, boys, makeup, boys, and being cool. Sunny's not against any of these things, but she also doesn't understand why suddenly everything revolves around them. She's much more comfortable when she's in her basement, playing Dungeons & Dragons with a bunch of new friends. Because when you're swordfighting and spider-slaying, it's hard to worry about whether you look cool or not. Especially when it's your turn to roll the 20-sided die. Trying hard to be cool can make you feel really uncool…and it's much more fun to just have fun.
Full-color illustrations.
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
None
Details
Format
Page Count
224
Trim Size
8" x 5 1/2"
Dewey
F
AR
2.5: points 0.5
Lexile
GN470L
Genre
Fiction
Scholastic Reading Counts
5
JLG Release
Dec 2019
Book Genres
Coming of Age, Graphic Novels, Realistic Fiction
Topics
Coming of age. The 1970s. Middle schools. Dungeons and Dragons. Family. Popularity. Friendship.
Standard MARC Records
Download Standard MARC Records
Cover Art
Download Cover Art
Praise & Reviews
Starred or favorable reviews have been received from these periodicals:
The Horn Book Magazine, Booklist, School Library Journal*, Kirkus Reviews*
Praise & Reviews
School Library Journal
It’s 1977, and Sunny is just starting seventh grade. She joins a group of boys who play Dungeons & Dragons, and she thoroughly enjoys the game, intrigued by the exciting stories and unusual monsters. Sunny also finds reminders of the game in real life, like comparing the gelatin in the school cafeteria to gelatinous cube monsters and applying the “always check for traps” rule to other risky tasks. But Sunny gets mixed messages from other girls and from teen magazines about how girls should look and act, and she starts to avoid the D & D group. It will be easy for readers to identify with likable Sunny as she struggles to balance her self-image with other people’s ideas about who she should be. Colorful, cartoony art adds humor and appeal. Though the book is the third in the series about Sunny, newcomers will easily dive right in. A sweet, funny, and silly story with a serious message at its core: stop trying so hard to be cool, and just have fun being yourself.
Horn Book
When seventh-grader Sunny takes the “Are You a Groovy Teen?” quiz in Teen!, you know it won’t go well. I mean, she still wears galoshes, a definite zero on the Groovy Meter. And then she has to go and become an eager initiate of Dungeons & Dragons, which might now have a nostalgic hipness in the wake of Stranger Things, but it was not something the cool kids did in 1977. Can Sunny remain true to herself, even as she sees best friend Deb racing ahead to the world of hot-rollers and boys? Readers of the first two Sunny books (Sunny Side Up, rev. 9/15; Swing It, Sunny, rev. 11/17 ) will know that Sunny will be fine, but not before an entertaining series of social gaffes and identity crises are met with Sunny’s essential good sense and the magic of D&D. Periodic appraisals by the Groovy Meter provide the graphic novel with a funny throughline of high and low (mostly low) moments, and the cartoon panels evoke the seventies vibe with just the mildest of satire (“Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans!”) and plenty of affection.
Grades 5-8
Graphic Novels Middle Plus
For Grades 5-8
Book-length narratives presented in comic book style, graphic novels foster both visual and verbal comprehension skills while exposing readers to interesting dialogue and satire, as well as affirming diversity.
JLG's selection of these unique books, some of them only published in softcover, are ideal for attracting reluctant readers and introducing them to literature they might not encounter otherwise. You may find that the 12 books in this category will turn your reluctant readers into eager readers.
14 books per Year
$293.02 per Year
Interests
Diversity,ESL,Fiction,Graphic Novels,Reluctant Readers,Transitional Readers,Funny/Humorous
Grades 5-8
Graphic Novels Middle Plus
14 books per Year
$293.02 per Year
Other Recommended Titles From Graphic Novels Middle Plus
Graphic Novels Middle Plus
February 2023
