SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

April 18, 2016 by Karen Jensen, MLS

Book Review: The Awakening of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie, reviewed by teen reviewer Lexi

April 18, 2016 by Karen Jensen, MLS   1 comments

awakeningofsunshubegurkPublisher’s Book Description

Having passed her test in Book One, Sunshine’s Luiseach powers are now fully awakened: for months now, Sunshine has felt spirits everywhere: heard voices, felt emotions – intense and sometimes overwhelming. She tries to ignore them, but it is impossible. Hoping to get her powers under control – and hoping for answers to her never-ending questions – she agrees to undergo training with her Luiseach mentor, even though she still hopes to give up her powers someday.

She and her mentor clash left and right; he doesn’t understand or approve of her attachment to the humans in her life; and she can’t understand how he could give her up so many years ago, only to endanger her mother’s life as part of a test.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Sunshine’s training is every bit as terrifying and creepy as her test was, and along the way she meets and befriends another young Luiseach, forcing her to confront her feelings for Nolan. Though her mentor is reluctant to answer her many questions, she finally learns more about her lineage, as well as the rift that threatens the future of Luiseach and the human race… and the crucial part she has to play in repairing it. (Published March 1, 2016)

Lexi’s Thoughts

“Saving the world is the greater good. Maybe it’s the greatest good there is.”

Sunshine has found her destiny. A destiny that separates her from everyone else, making her unique and different. A destiny that could lead her to a sacrifice of everyone she loves.But it is her decision on if sacrificing herself is for ‘the greatest good there is’.

The book starts off with yet another ominous third party person whose identity is obscured from the reader, but whose ideas are very clear.

“Sixteen years to plan it.

Sixteen years to envision it.

Sixteen years to steel myself for the task that’s fallen at my feet.

I’m ready to eliminate her. I just have to find her first.”

Much like the first book, this sequel captures the reader with not only the point of view of young, quirky Sunshine Griffith but with also the mysterious man who watches her. However, unlike the first book this mysterious man isn’t as friendly as the man in the first one.

Between becoming a trained Luiseach, an ancient race who protect humans from the demons who set out to harm them, and juggling the truth of who she is and where she comes from, Sunshine finds herself in the middle of Mexico isolated from her family. Aidan, her biological father, teaches her everything she needs to know about fighting demons and helping ghosts. For Sunshine her life has taken a turn from the ordinary Texas girl who shops at vintage stores and who over uses the word ‘creepy’. She is now taking a journey to becoming a full fledged fighter of all things that go bump in the night. Alongside her love interest and protector, Nolan, her biological father, and a fellow Luiseach, Lucio, Sunshine will go through trials and obstacles in order to save the world.

The Awakening of Sunshine Girl is a very decent sequel to The Haunting of Sunshine Girl. Aside from the constant need for the main character to emphasize how different she is and from the monotonous voice of the writing. The book seems better than the first.

The writing is still a little mediocre compared to the usual taste of books i read but it doesn’t take away fully from the plot of the story. While reading these book i had an overwhelming urge to read R.L. Stines books because of how spooky this book is. I recommend it for anyone who likes quirky ghost stories that will leave you with a cliffhanger almost every time.

Filed under: book review, Book Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Karen Jensen, MLS

Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

September 2020

Book Review: Thoughts & Prayers by Bryan Bliss

by Karen Jensen, MLS

September 2016

Book Review - Pasadena by Sherri L. Smith

by Karen Jensen, MLS

August 2016

Book Review: GEMINA, the sequel to ILLUMINAE, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, reviewed by teen reviewer Lexi

by Karen Jensen, MLS

April 2016

Post It Note Reviews, by The Teen

by Karen Jensen, MLS

April 2016

Book Review: The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith, reviewed by teen reviewer Lexi

by Karen Jensen, MLS

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

One Star Review, Guess Who? (#181)

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

That Flag: An Interview with Tameka Fryer Brown

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Monkey Prince Vol. 1: Enter the Monkey | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Heavy Medal

Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Readers’ Poll Results

by Steven Engelfried

Teen Librarian Toolbox

The Value of Innocence for BIPOC Students, a guest post by David Mura

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Looking Ahead: Our 2023 Preview

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

First Flames: An Interview Between Debut Authors Hafsah Faizal and Nafiza Azad

Shaun David Hutchinson Is Taking a Break | Writing and Reading in the Trump Era

July's Debut YA Authors Explore the Hidden Truths, Tropes, and Tragedies Behind Stories

Three Debut YA Authors Explore Identity and Connection

On Parental Love & Addiction: Lauren Myracle

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jenna Hanna says

    September 22, 2017 at 12:19 pm

    this is a great book

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023