Discussion Questions/Talking Points• Graphic novels typically contain some or all of the following: panels, word balloons, sound effects, motion lines, narration, and

background colors. Find examples of as many of these elements as possible in this book.• How do you read a graphic novel? Panel by panel? Pictures first and then text? Text first and then pictures? There is no single

“right” way. Compare your approach with a classmate’s.• Look at pages 90–91. What do you learn from just the text on these pages? What do you learn from just the images? What

word would you use to describe Sunny’s emotion in each panel?• A critical portion of Sunny Side Up is told in flashbacks. Look at pages 100–101. The opening panel on page 100 has a date, “March

1976,” and a location, “Pennsylvania.” In what other ways can you tell that the narrative has jumped back to an earlier time? • The visual element of a graphic novel sets it apart from a traditional book. Look at pages 70–71. Unaware of the potential danger,

Sunny has entered a pond to retrieve a golf ball. There’s very little text on these two pages. How do the images convey what’s happening? Write this scene in prose and analyze how the scene is different when told in words.

• Several characters keep secrets in this story. Discuss the various secrets and how they make each character feel. Read the note from sibling authors Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm that’s found at the end of the novel. As a class, brainstorm how students can find help if they are confused or scared about events at home or at school.

Extension Activities• Create panels and dialogue for a new scene in the novel. Perhaps Sunny and Buzz play Bingo with

Gramps and his friends, or Big Al ventures out of the pond!• Create a symbols panel like the one found on page 95 for America’s Bicentennial in 1976. Pick a holiday

(Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, etc.), a major event (presidential election, 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, etc.), or a location (your town, a state, etc.) and create a full-page panel that depicts images and words representing the larger concept. Display the symbols panels on a bulletin board or in a corner of the classroom.

• Start a graphic novel club with fellow students who especially enjoy this literary form. At monthly meetings, encourage members to book talk graphic novels they’ve read since the last meeting. Create “Great Graphics!” forms for students in the club to fill out to recommend individual titles. Post them in the school library for other students to see.

SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. Art copyright © 2017 by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm.

Some questions revised from Scholastic’s A Guide to Using Graphic Novels with Children and Teens, which can be

found at www.scholastic.com/discussionguides.

ISBN 978-0-545-74165-1 hardcover

ISBN 978-0-545-74166-8 paperback

SUNNY SIDE UPJennifer L. Holm & Matthew HolmSunny Lewin has been packed off to Florida to live with her grandfather for the summer. But the place where Gramps lives is full of old people. Really old people. Luckily, Sunny meets Buzz, a boy her own age who is obsessed with comic books, and soon they’re having adventures of their own. But the question remains—why is Sunny in Florida in the first place? The answer lies in a family secret that won’t be secret to Sunny much longer . . .

About the Creators Siblings Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jennifer is the New York Times bestselling and three-time Newbery Honor–winning author of several novels. Matthew has been drawing comics since he was in middle school. Together they created the graphic novel series Babymouse and Squish.

AN IMPRINT OF

www.scholastic.com/graphix