Sunny Side Up

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains references to substance abuse, addiction, and domestic violence.

The novel opens with a two-page splash panel establishing the scene: a distant passenger airplane descends through an aqua blue sky filled with white clouds. The images lean toward the cartoonish rather than the realistic. A pastel yellow caption box reads, “Chapter One: Sunshine State” (1). In a series of three panels on the following page, captions on a sky blue background explain that it is August of 1976, and the plane is landing in West Palm Beach, Florida. The plane descends and lands against the backdrop of an airport and landscape depicted in various shades of blue, green, tan, and gray. A closeup image of a child’s arm retrieving a round coral suitcase is followed by a view of the child walking down the aisle of the plane, surrounded by the bodies of much taller adults. The child descends the plane’s stairs, her face too distant to be seen.

In the airport, the child enters the terminal. An aqua and coral sign read, “Welcome to Florida! The Sunshine State!” The girl is 10-year-old Sunny Lewin—an isolated figure in aqua shorts, a white sleeveless top, and bright blond hair.