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Cover of Sunny Figures It Out
Graphic · ages 8–12

Sunny Figures It Out

Written by Jennifer L. Holm · Illustrated by Matthew Holm

Book 6 of 6 in SunnyView the full series

Bestseller list

A later Sunny volume about friendship, maybe-dating and figuring out what changing feelings mean. It keeps the series' warm, funny graphic style while moving Sunny into more tween emotional territory.

  • Best for8–12
  • FormatGraphic
  • Length224 pp
  • Read aloud~1 hr45 min
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The vibe

What it’s like.

Style

  • Conversational
  • Comedic

Tone

  • Funny
  • Warm
  • Heartwarming
  • Thought provoking
  • Cosy

Themes

On the page1970s, dating questions, first crush, middle school, friendship changes, growing up, tony, movies

Experience meters

Energy3/ 5
Humour3/ 5
Scariness1/ 5
Peril1/ 5
Wonder2/ 5
Cosiness4/ 5
Emotional intensity3/ 5
Conceptual intensity3/ 5

What’s it about?

The story.

Sunny loves spending time with Tony. They go to the movies, talk at school and support each other when things feel difficult. But now Sunny has a new question to figure out: are they dating? And if they are, what does that actually mean? This sixth Sunny graphic novel continues Sunny's 1970s middle-school story with a gentle, age-appropriate look at changing friendship, early crushes and the awkward uncertainty of growing up. The book is still funny, visual and highly readable, but its emotional focus is a little older than the earliest entries. Sunny is not dealing with dramatic romance; she is trying to understand labels, feelings, friendship and whether a relationship changes who she is or how she behaves. It is a useful, low-peril choice for readers ready for tween social questions in a realistic graphic novel format.

Fit check

Right for your child?

Where it lands by age

  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7
  • 9
  • 11
  • 13
  • Best fit · 8–12
  • Read aloud · 8–11
  • Independent · 8–12

Prose load

Light

Visual support

Very high

Reluctant-reader friendly

Very

Read-aloud quality

Strong

Works well for

  • Reading aloud
  • Bedtime
  • Reluctant readers
Low sensitivityNo content warnings

Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.

Bedtime suitability

4 / 5 · Bedtime-friendly

Sensitive-child

4 / 5 · Good fit

Graphic intensity

1 / 5 · None

Best for

  • First crush story
  • Middle school story
  • Realistic graphic novel
  • Raina telgemeier next
  • Reluctant readers

Avoid if

  • Has not read earlier sunny
  • Dislikes crush storylines
  • Wants action adventure

Particularly good for children who are…

  • Reluctant reader
  • Making friends
  • Struggling with reading
  • Moving to secondary school
  • Low self esteem

In the classroom

How it works in school.

A warm graphic-novel series about growing up — a reluctant-reader favourite that opens talk about family and change.

Classroom role

  • Classroom library
  • Discussion and empathy

A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.

Why it lands

Why they love it.

Why kids love it

The specific recognition is asking 'are we dating?' — Sunny and Tony spending time together, the labels and feelings starting to matter, the uncertainty of what changing closeness means. The Sunny for a tween who's started asking the same questions.

  • Friendship and belonging
  • Being special or chosen
  • Family belonging

Why parents love it

The Sunny for the early-crush phase — Tony and Sunny, are-they-dating questions, gentle realistic graphic novel for an older tween. Best read in series sequence; rewards readers who've grown with Sunny.

  • Nostalgia
  • Conversation starter
  • Shared humour
  • Quick to read

In the series

Sunny.

6 books · open the series →

About the creators

About the creators.

JL

Jennifer L. Holm

Writer · United States · b. 1968

Jennifer L. Holm is an American author born in 1968, with three Newbery Honors (Our Only May Amelia, Penny from Heaven, Turtle in Paradise) for her historical-fiction middle-grade novels. She is also the co-creator (with her brother, illustrator Matthew Holm) of the long-running Babymouse and Squish graphic-novel series, bright, gag-paced early graphic novels for ages 6–10, and the more recent Sunny series of semi-autobiographical 1970s-set middle-grade graphic novels. Holm's voice is warm, observational and emotionally generous across both her prose and graphic-novel work. A core American middle-grade author covering both historical-realist novels and early-graphic-novel territory.

More from Jennifer L. Holm
MH

Matthew Holm

Illustrator · United States

Matthew Holm is an American cartoonist who, with his sister Jennifer L. Holm as writer, co-created the long-running Babymouse and Squish early-graphic-novel series, bright, pink-and-black gag-paced comics about an irrepressible imaginative mouse (Babymouse) and a phlegmatically optimistic amoeba (Squish). The Babymouse books have been a US elementary-school staple for over fifteen years. Matthew also illustrates the Sunny graphic-novel series (also with Jennifer). His style is clean, character-led and densely jokey, with strong appeal for ages 6–10, particularly for emerging graphic-novel readers transitioning from picture books.

More from Matthew Holm

If you liked this

Three ways out of this book.

If you liked this, try…

Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.

Come into this from…

Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.

Where to go next…

Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.

Buy or borrow

Pick up a copy.

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Last reviewed · April 2026Suggest a correctionHow we recommend

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