Penny From Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm

I was drawn to this book for the opportunity to experience recollections of the 1950s and to seek understanding of life for Italian Americans during that time. My uncle (my mother's sister's husband) was Italian, and I always wondered what made him "tick." I remember him as a very strong yet tender-hearted man who loved baseball. He used to make homemade ravioli for many family gatherings with his brothers, mother and family when they joined our side of the family for long Sunday aftertoon reunions. Penny From Heaven brought back a lot of those memories for me. Nonny's macaroni and homemade Italian foods and the many-course meals that seem to last all day were reminiscent of my earlier years. Penny, the protagonist presented as a regular young girl who grabbed life's gusto as much as she could along with her cousin and best friend, Frankie. Penny did not seem to be vain and proper, but she spoke her mind and built rapport with her extended family with ease. She seemed to be well-known by all in her community. Throughout the book she reflected on who her late father really was and how he died. Her family consisted of her mother who was portrayed as a rather minor character in contrast to her uncles, grandparents, Aunt Gina, Nonny, and Frankie. Holm characterized Penny's maternal grandparents as very down-to-earth people with typical yet annoying mannerisms: Pop-pop burped too much, and Me-Me couldn't cook well. Penny's extended family from her father's side lived near by, and Penny often visited them on Sundays. Penny seemed to feel more akin to her Italian uncles, aunt, Frankie, and Nonny, her paternal grandfather. Although the Italian side of the family showed a quarreling Aunt Gina and Nonny, they all tolerated and supported each other in love. Most of them treated Penny like a princess. The first two thirds of the book was mostly descriptive of Penny's day-to day life helping Frankie with deliveries from her uncle's meat store to playing baseball to hanging out and talking about family times with different family members. The plot took a drastic turn when Penny accidentally got her arm caught in the wringer of the washing machine when she and Frankie were under the guise of volunteering to do the laundry in the basement. Frankie wanted time in the basement to search for hidden treasure from his grandfather, and Penny was helping him do the laundry in the basement while he searched the walls. Penny's arm was seriously injured, and she spent a long stay in the hospital waiting and hoping for it to heal. The doctors were skeptical about Penny regaining use of her arm. One day in the hospital Penny overheard bits and pieces of a story about how her Italian father was a spy and how he died. This aroused a barrage of questions in her mind, and she was able to inquire again of a trusted aunt about what really had happened to her father. At long last Penny heard the true story about how her father was unfairly discriminated against as an Italian and an enemy alien . It seemed that now knowing the true story, Penny had new hope that enabled her arm to heal. One day she tried to reach for her lucky bean on the table beside her bed. To her surprise her fingers could curl around the bean. From that momement on the story took several upbeat turns. Her mother married the milkman who moved into her grandparents' house with them, she became a very popular girl at school, the boy with whom she had a crush asked her out to a movie, and her favorite Uncle Dominic returned after having abandoned her with the wringer accident. Uncle Dominic who had always slept in an old abandoned car out back finally moved into the basement of the house. Penny now had her family together: near and dear to her heart in more ways than one.