Common Sense Media Review
By Mary Eisenhart
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Brilliant, complex disability tale best for mature readers.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Sally Miyake, aka Sal Gal, has lived at SUNNYSIDE PLAZA, a group home for developmentally disabled adults, for most of her 19 years. She helps in the kitchen, enjoys watching TV and coloring with her friends, and pretty much has a quiet life. When one of the elderly residents dies unexpectedly and two police detectives arrive to check things out, Sal quickly makes friends with them and their families. When a second resident also dies, and a third suffers a near-fatal stroke, the investigation takes a more serious turn, and Sunnyside Plaza may be shut down due to the suspicious deaths. Being a good deal more resourceful than she gets credit for, and also being inspired by the example of her police friends and their families, Sal is determined to solve the mystery and save her home.
Is It Any Good?
Narrator Sal Gal may see things differently, but she doesn't let other people's prejudices stop her from acting to save her group home in Scott Simon's unusual tale of spirit and determination. Along the way, she meets a lot of kind people who broaden her horizons with baseball games, picnics, and holiday celebrations -- and also a lot of mean people who mock her and her friends for being developmentally disabled and who act like they're not worth much. Solving the problem of unexpected deaths in the home -- which might cause Sunnyside Plaza to shut down and leave its residents to an unknown fate -- takes luck, persistence, and collaboration.
Sally's narrative voice, punctuated with random lines from TV commercials and assorted numbers, is determined, engaging, and kid-like, which, coming from an apparent adult, may be too much of an imaginative leap for many younger readers. But if you can make that leap, you're in for quite a ride with a person you'll be glad you met: "I know more than I can say. I know things I don't know how to say. Even if I have heard words and know them, I can't always say them. Sometimes it feels like I have a rock inside that sits on words. But I hear things and see things. I notice and figure out things. It's all here, inside."
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about people with disabilities, and how they're portrayed in stories like Sunnyside Plaza. Are prejudice and stereotypes an issue? What other stories do you know that have main characters who are treated badly because others think they're strange? How do they deal with it?
A man who's caught doing bad things to other people to make money offers the excuse that he's doing it "to feed my family." Do you think that makes it OK to harm others?
Have you ever been to a Passover celebration? Was it like the seder described in Sunnyside Plaza, or completely different?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Friendship
- Topics : Friendship
- Book type : Fiction
- Publishers : Little , Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Publication date : January 21, 2020
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 208
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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