Penny from Heaven

$8.99 US
RH Childrens Books | Yearling
On sale Dec 26, 2007 | 9780375849268
Age 8-12 years
Reading Level: Lexile 730L | Fountas & Pinnell T
Sales rights: World
Newbery Honor–winning, New York Times–bestselling, and as full of fun and adventure as it is of deeper family issues.
 
School’s out for summer, and Penny and her cousin Frankie have big plans to eat lots of butter pecan ice cream, swim at the local pool, and cheer on their favorite baseball team—the Brooklyn Dodgers! But sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Penny’s mom doesn’t want her to swim because she’s afraid Penny will get polio. Frankie is constantly getting into trouble, and Penny feels caught between the two sides of her family. But even if the summer doesn’t exactly start as planned . . . things can work out in the most unexpected ways!
 
Set just after World War II, this thought-provoking novel also highlights the prejudice Penny’s Italian American family must confront because people of Italian descent were “the enemy” not long ago.
 
Inspired by three-time Newbery Honor winner Jennifer Holm’s own Italian American family, Penny from Heaven is a story about families—about the things that tear them apart and the things that bring them back together.
 
Includes an author’s note with photographs and background on World War II, internment camps, and 1950s America, as well as additional resources and websites.
 
Booklist:
“Holm impressively wraps pathos with comedy in this coming-of-age story, populated by a cast of vivid characters.”
  • WINNER | 2007
    ALA Notable Children's Book
  • WINNER | 2007
    Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College Children's Book of the Year
  • WINNER | 2007
    IRA Notable Books for a Global Society
  • WINNER | 2007
    New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
  • WINNER | 2007
    Newbery Honor Book
  • NOMINEE
    Iowa Children's Choice Award
  • NOMINEE
    Rhode Island Children's Book Award
  • NOMINEE
    Arkansas Charlie May Simon Award
  • NOMINEE
    Indiana Young Hoosier Award
  • NOMINEE
    Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award
  • FINALIST | 2009
    Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award
  • FINALIST | 2007
    Iowa Children's Choice Award
CHAPTER ONE

Me-me says that Heaven is full of fluffy white clouds and angels.

That sounds pretty swell, but how can you sit on a cloud? Wouldn’t you fall right through and smack onto the ground? Like Frankie always says, angels have wings, so what do they have to worry about?

My idea of Heaven has nothing to do with clouds or angels. In my Heaven there’s butter pecan ice cream and swimming pools and baseball games. The Brooklyn Dodgers always win, and I have the best seat in the house, right behind the Dodgers’ dugout. That’s the only advantage that I can see to being dead: You get the best seat in the house.

I think about Heaven a lot. Not because of the usual reasons, though. I’m only eleven, and I don’t plan on dying until I’m at least a hundred. It’s just that I’m named after that Bing Crosby song “Pennies from Heaven,” and when you’re named after something, you can’t help but think about it.

See, my father was crazy about Bing Crosby, and that’s why everyone calls me Penny instead of Barbara Ann Falucci, which is what’s on my birth certificate. No one ever calls me Barbara, except teachers, and sometimes even I forget that it’s my real name.

I guess it could be worse. I could be called Clementine, which was the name of another Bing Crosby song that my father really liked. I don’t think I’d make a very good Clementine.

Then again, who would?

CHAPTER TWO

Uncle Dominic is sitting in his car. It’s a 1940 Plymouth Roadking. It’s black with chrome trim, and the hubcaps are so shiny, you could use them as a mirror. Uncle Dominic pays my cousin Frankie to shine them up. It’s an awfully nice car; everybody says so. But then, it’s kind of hard to miss. It’s been parked in the side yard of my grandmother Falucci’s house for as long as I can remember.

Uncle Dominic lives right there in his car. Nobody in the family thinks it’s weird that Uncle Dominic lives in his car, or if they do, nobody ever says anything. It’s 1953, and it’s not exactly normal for people in New Jersey to live in cars. Most people around here live in houses. But Uncle Dominic’s kind of a hermit. He also likes to wear slippers instead of shoes. Once I asked him why.

“They’re comfortable,” he said.

Besides living in the car and wearing slippers, Uncle Dominic’s my favorite uncle, and I have a lot of uncles. Sometimes I lose track of them.

“Hey, Princess,” Uncle Dominic calls. I lean through the window and hear the announcer on the portable radio. Uncle Dominic likes to listen to ball games in the car. There’s a pillow and a ratty-looking blanket on the backseat. Uncle Dominic says the car’s the only place he can get any rest. He has a lot of trouble falling asleep.

“Hi, Uncle Dominic,” I say.

“Game’s on,” he says.

I start to open the back door, but Uncle Dominic says, “You can sit up front.”

Uncle Dominic’s very particular about who’s allowed to sit in his car. Most people have to sit in the back, although Uncle Nunzio always sits up front. I don’t think anyone ever tells Uncle Nunzio what to do.

“Who’s winning?” I ask.

“Bums are ahead.”

I love the Brooklyn Dodgers, and so does Uncle Dominic. We call them Dem Bums. Most people around here like the New York Yankees or the Giants, but not us. Uncle Dominic is staring out the window, like he’s really in the ballpark and watching the game from the bleachers. He’s handsome, with dark hair and brown eyes. Everyone says he looks just like my father. I don’t remember my father because he died when I was just a baby, but I’ve seen photographs, and Uncle Dominic does look like him, except sadder.

“Got something for you,” Uncle Dominic says.

All my uncles give me presents. Uncle Nunzio gives me fur muffs, and Uncle Ralphie gives me candy, and Uncle Paulie brings me fancy perfumes, and Uncle Sally gives me horseshoes. It’s like Christmas all the time.

Uncle Dominic hands me something that looks like a big dark-brown bean.

“What is it?”

“It’s a lucky bean,” he says. Uncle Dominic is superstitious. “Just found it this morning. It was packed away with some old things. I got it for your father before he died, but I never had a chance to give it to him. I want you to have it.”

“Where’d you get it?” I ask.

“Florida,” he says.

Uncle Dominic loves Florida and goes to Vero Beach every winter, probably because it’s too cold to live in the car then. Even though he lives in this car, he has another car that he uses for driving, a 1950 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. Frankie says he bets Uncle Dominic has a girl down in Florida, but I kind of don’t think so. Most women want a new Frigidaire, not a backseat.

“Put it in your pocket,” he says. “It’ll keep you safe.”

The lucky bean is big and lumpy. It feels heavy, not the kind of thing to put in a pocket, but Uncle Dominic has this look about his eyes like he might just die if I don’t, and because he is my favorite uncle, I do what I always do.

I smile and say, “Thanks, Uncle Dominic.” For a moment the strain leaves his eyes.

“Anything for you, Princess,” he says. “Anything.”
"Penny and her world are clearly drawn and eminently believable."--School Library Journal

"Holm impressively wraps pathos with comedy in this coming-of-age story, populated by a cast of vivid characters."--Booklist

"Penny's present-tense narration is both earthy and observant, and her commentary on her families' eccentricities sparkles."--Kirkus Reviews

Educator Guide for Penny from Heaven

Classroom-based guides appropriate for schools and colleges provide pre-reading and classroom activities, discussion questions connected to the curriculum, further reading, and resources.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)

About

Newbery Honor–winning, New York Times–bestselling, and as full of fun and adventure as it is of deeper family issues.
 
School’s out for summer, and Penny and her cousin Frankie have big plans to eat lots of butter pecan ice cream, swim at the local pool, and cheer on their favorite baseball team—the Brooklyn Dodgers! But sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Penny’s mom doesn’t want her to swim because she’s afraid Penny will get polio. Frankie is constantly getting into trouble, and Penny feels caught between the two sides of her family. But even if the summer doesn’t exactly start as planned . . . things can work out in the most unexpected ways!
 
Set just after World War II, this thought-provoking novel also highlights the prejudice Penny’s Italian American family must confront because people of Italian descent were “the enemy” not long ago.
 
Inspired by three-time Newbery Honor winner Jennifer Holm’s own Italian American family, Penny from Heaven is a story about families—about the things that tear them apart and the things that bring them back together.
 
Includes an author’s note with photographs and background on World War II, internment camps, and 1950s America, as well as additional resources and websites.
 
Booklist:
“Holm impressively wraps pathos with comedy in this coming-of-age story, populated by a cast of vivid characters.”

Awards

  • WINNER | 2007
    ALA Notable Children's Book
  • WINNER | 2007
    Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College Children's Book of the Year
  • WINNER | 2007
    IRA Notable Books for a Global Society
  • WINNER | 2007
    New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
  • WINNER | 2007
    Newbery Honor Book
  • NOMINEE
    Iowa Children's Choice Award
  • NOMINEE
    Rhode Island Children's Book Award
  • NOMINEE
    Arkansas Charlie May Simon Award
  • NOMINEE
    Indiana Young Hoosier Award
  • NOMINEE
    Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award
  • FINALIST | 2009
    Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award
  • FINALIST | 2007
    Iowa Children's Choice Award

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

Me-me says that Heaven is full of fluffy white clouds and angels.

That sounds pretty swell, but how can you sit on a cloud? Wouldn’t you fall right through and smack onto the ground? Like Frankie always says, angels have wings, so what do they have to worry about?

My idea of Heaven has nothing to do with clouds or angels. In my Heaven there’s butter pecan ice cream and swimming pools and baseball games. The Brooklyn Dodgers always win, and I have the best seat in the house, right behind the Dodgers’ dugout. That’s the only advantage that I can see to being dead: You get the best seat in the house.

I think about Heaven a lot. Not because of the usual reasons, though. I’m only eleven, and I don’t plan on dying until I’m at least a hundred. It’s just that I’m named after that Bing Crosby song “Pennies from Heaven,” and when you’re named after something, you can’t help but think about it.

See, my father was crazy about Bing Crosby, and that’s why everyone calls me Penny instead of Barbara Ann Falucci, which is what’s on my birth certificate. No one ever calls me Barbara, except teachers, and sometimes even I forget that it’s my real name.

I guess it could be worse. I could be called Clementine, which was the name of another Bing Crosby song that my father really liked. I don’t think I’d make a very good Clementine.

Then again, who would?

CHAPTER TWO

Uncle Dominic is sitting in his car. It’s a 1940 Plymouth Roadking. It’s black with chrome trim, and the hubcaps are so shiny, you could use them as a mirror. Uncle Dominic pays my cousin Frankie to shine them up. It’s an awfully nice car; everybody says so. But then, it’s kind of hard to miss. It’s been parked in the side yard of my grandmother Falucci’s house for as long as I can remember.

Uncle Dominic lives right there in his car. Nobody in the family thinks it’s weird that Uncle Dominic lives in his car, or if they do, nobody ever says anything. It’s 1953, and it’s not exactly normal for people in New Jersey to live in cars. Most people around here live in houses. But Uncle Dominic’s kind of a hermit. He also likes to wear slippers instead of shoes. Once I asked him why.

“They’re comfortable,” he said.

Besides living in the car and wearing slippers, Uncle Dominic’s my favorite uncle, and I have a lot of uncles. Sometimes I lose track of them.

“Hey, Princess,” Uncle Dominic calls. I lean through the window and hear the announcer on the portable radio. Uncle Dominic likes to listen to ball games in the car. There’s a pillow and a ratty-looking blanket on the backseat. Uncle Dominic says the car’s the only place he can get any rest. He has a lot of trouble falling asleep.

“Hi, Uncle Dominic,” I say.

“Game’s on,” he says.

I start to open the back door, but Uncle Dominic says, “You can sit up front.”

Uncle Dominic’s very particular about who’s allowed to sit in his car. Most people have to sit in the back, although Uncle Nunzio always sits up front. I don’t think anyone ever tells Uncle Nunzio what to do.

“Who’s winning?” I ask.

“Bums are ahead.”

I love the Brooklyn Dodgers, and so does Uncle Dominic. We call them Dem Bums. Most people around here like the New York Yankees or the Giants, but not us. Uncle Dominic is staring out the window, like he’s really in the ballpark and watching the game from the bleachers. He’s handsome, with dark hair and brown eyes. Everyone says he looks just like my father. I don’t remember my father because he died when I was just a baby, but I’ve seen photographs, and Uncle Dominic does look like him, except sadder.

“Got something for you,” Uncle Dominic says.

All my uncles give me presents. Uncle Nunzio gives me fur muffs, and Uncle Ralphie gives me candy, and Uncle Paulie brings me fancy perfumes, and Uncle Sally gives me horseshoes. It’s like Christmas all the time.

Uncle Dominic hands me something that looks like a big dark-brown bean.

“What is it?”

“It’s a lucky bean,” he says. Uncle Dominic is superstitious. “Just found it this morning. It was packed away with some old things. I got it for your father before he died, but I never had a chance to give it to him. I want you to have it.”

“Where’d you get it?” I ask.

“Florida,” he says.

Uncle Dominic loves Florida and goes to Vero Beach every winter, probably because it’s too cold to live in the car then. Even though he lives in this car, he has another car that he uses for driving, a 1950 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. Frankie says he bets Uncle Dominic has a girl down in Florida, but I kind of don’t think so. Most women want a new Frigidaire, not a backseat.

“Put it in your pocket,” he says. “It’ll keep you safe.”

The lucky bean is big and lumpy. It feels heavy, not the kind of thing to put in a pocket, but Uncle Dominic has this look about his eyes like he might just die if I don’t, and because he is my favorite uncle, I do what I always do.

I smile and say, “Thanks, Uncle Dominic.” For a moment the strain leaves his eyes.

“Anything for you, Princess,” he says. “Anything.”

Praise

"Penny and her world are clearly drawn and eminently believable."--School Library Journal

"Holm impressively wraps pathos with comedy in this coming-of-age story, populated by a cast of vivid characters."--Booklist

"Penny's present-tense narration is both earthy and observant, and her commentary on her families' eccentricities sparkles."--Kirkus Reviews

Guides

Educator Guide for Penny from Heaven

Classroom-based guides appropriate for schools and colleges provide pre-reading and classroom activities, discussion questions connected to the curriculum, further reading, and resources.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)