Winnie Nash Is Not Your Sunshine
by Nicole Melleby
Middle School    Algonquin    256 pp.
4/24    9781643753133    $16.99
e-book ed.  9781523527458    $9.99

Winnie Nash has been out as gay since age four when she kissed another girl at preschool. It’s never been an issue. At twelve, she’s much more worried about her mom, who is pregnant again after several miscarriages. Winnie’s parents are sending her to stay with a grandmother she barely knows for the whole summer, and they warn her not to share their family’s private business, including her mom’s severe clinical depression and the fact that Winnie is gay. They tell her just to have an enjoyable summer at the Jersey Shore—but how can she do that when anytime she smiles, she feels like she’s stealing a smile from her mom? All she wants is to escape to New York City to attend the Pride parade, where she won’t have to hide. In the moody and contrarian Winnie, Melleby has crafted a believable, compelling portrait of a middle schooler struggling to process big, difficult emotions. Though Winnie’s family situation makes this novel at times a somber read, joy shines through in unexpected places, as when Winnie delights in playing canasta at the senior center, or in the vivid descriptions of beaches. Winnie’s relationship with her grandma is a highlight—complicated, sometimes tumultuous, but deeply rewarding once she discovers that we really do need to talk about the hard things.

From the May/June 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.