The Sun Will Come Out

Written by Joanne Levy

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-2587-1

281 pp.

Ages 9-12

April 2021

If the title of Joanne Levy's newest middle grade novel has you singing the song "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie, then you know what 11-year-old Bea Gellman is wishing for when she has to attend her first summer sleepover camp without her best friend Frankie. All Bea's plans for a fabulous summer at Camp Shalom go out the window when Frankie is accepted to attend an expensive horse camp. Bea knows it won't be the same, even if her crush, Frankie's 14-year-old brother Jeremy, will be there as a counselor-in-training. But all Bea's dad can tell her is to look for the silver lining. 

Very quickly Bea makes a friend of Regan, a girl from Ireland, whose grandparents live locally and wish her to meet some Jewish friends. But also in Cabin 17 are mean girls Carly and Samantha who make Bea the butt of their jokes after she breaks out in hives. And with every new embarrassment, whether it's mistaking the mess tent for the arts and crafts area, seeing Jeremy, or being pushed into him for a kiss, Bea is reduced to hives that send her to the infirmary. There she meets Harry, the thirteen-year-old son of the camp directors, who helps out rather than participating in camp activities because of the meanness of some campers about his appearance. Because Harry has progeria, a rare genetic disorder that is characterized by a number of unusual physical traits including small stature, a large head and no hair, he is happiest helping out in the infirmary and staying behind the scenes.

 

Since Harry is delighted to have some company his own age and Bea appreciates being able to avoid her cabin, especially after learning that Regan and Jeremy were seen kissing after a rehearsal for the camp musical of Annie, the two young people become fast friends, bonding over video games and movies including that of the very musical set to be performed. But while they share a need to cocoon in the comfort of their new friendship, they realize that they're both running away from things that scare them. Harry recognizes that courage may require doing something that is frightening, but...

...even if something doesn't turn out the way you hope, that's not failing. Not trying at all because you're scared is failing. (pg. 235)

At Camp Shalom, there are days of rain and sun, friendships and bullies, and times of angst and glory, and Joanne Levy takes us there for every moment. Of course it has everything that kids experience through the school year, when they are faced with new challenges and people, learning to get by and get along and rise above. There's still much laughter and tears, camaraderie and struggles, but with Camp Shalom as the setting for Bea's newest chapter, Joanne Levy introduces a distinct world of Shabbat services, hamotsi, and ometz lev. But whether they can speak Hebrew or are looking forward to their bat mitzvahs or just figuring out friendships, Joanne Levy has created characters as real as those who may be currently struggling with virtual schools and missing their friends and looking for more.

 

The sun will come out tomorrow, or perhaps the day after, but Joanne Levy helps us see that, with a little humour, a dab of courage and the recognition of a silver lining to most things, almost anything can be endured and even transformative. Most of all, there will be notable moments in our lives when new people come into them, perhaps for only a short time, to offer the kind of friendships that teach us more about ourselves.