Call Me Sunflower by Miriam Spitzer Franklin

Summary

Sunny Beringer hates her first name—her real first name—Sunflower. And she hates that her mom has suddenly left behind her dad, Scott, and uprooted their family miles away from New Jersey to North Carolina just so she can pursue some fancy degree. Sunny has to live with a grandmother she barely knows, and she’s had to leave her beloved cat and all her friends behind. And no one else seems to think anything is wrong.

So she creates “Sunny Beringer’s Totally Awesome Plan for Romance”—a list of sure-fire ways to make her mom and Scott fall madly in love again, including:

Send Mom flowers from a “Secret Admirer” to make Scott jealous and make him regret letting them move so far away.
Make a playlist of Scott’s favorite love songs—the mushier the better—and make sure it’s always playing in the car.
Ask them about the good old days when they first fell in love.
But while working on a photo album guaranteed to make Mom change her mind and rush them right back home, Sunny discovers a photo—one that changes everything.

Sunny’s family, the people she thought she could trust most in the world, have been keeping an enormous secret from her. And she’ll have to reconcile her family’s past and present, or she’ll lose everything about their future.

 My Thoughts

Call Me Sunflower is a pretty good middle grade novel that, when the plot twist came to light, caught me completely off guard!  I won't say what it was because I certainly don't want to ruin the book for anyone else, but I really didn't see it coming!  Not at all.

There were several things that I enjoyed about this book.  First of all, for a middle grade book, the storyline had a lot of deep, impactful subjects and they were all written very well.  I felt so bad for Sunny, having to move from her dad, cat, and friends isn't an easy thing.  Especially at that age.

Something that didn't sit well with me was some of Sunny's behavior.  Maybe it's because I am a mom that it stood out to me so much.  Another thing I didn't like has to do with the big family secret.  I really don't understand how a family could keep something like that a secret.  I wouldn't do that to my children.

I still enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.  As a matter of fact, I already have!  My daughter just finished reading it and she definitely liked it!

*Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.