44 pages • 1 hour read
Jason ReynoldsSunny
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 4-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary: “Monday”
Sunny is thrilled when his teacher Aurelia shows up on Monday morning to break the silence of Darryl silently reading the newspaper and sipping coffee. Aurelia is an artistic and eclectic person with tattoos and dyed hair. Sunny explains that Aurelia homeschooling Sunny has always been a part of his parents’ “plan.” Sunny details the other parts of his parents’ plan which began when they met during middle school and outlined their shared goals and vision for their life.
Sunny recalls a day from the period in which Sunny was not writing in his diary. He and Aurelia took a trip to a museum, and while looking at a statue of an armless lady, Aurelia began crying. Aurelia explained that it was her anniversary and took Sunny along with her to get a tattoo to celebrate. When they arrived at the tattoo shop, a large man named Fish greeted them, and asked Aurelia how many years it has been. She told him 20, and that she wanted green ink for her next tattoo. As Fish tattooed a green star on Aurelia’s wrist, she explained that she developed an addiction to drugs in college, and that Sunny’s mother helped her through in part by taking her to a dance class. To celebrate her one year of sobriety, Aurelia and Sunny’s mother got matching tattoos. Each year on her sobriety anniversary she adds another tattoo to her wrist. Sunny reveals that Aurelia continues to dance and has been teaching Sunny to dance as well.
Aurelia takes Sunny to track practice, where he will have to confront Coach about the meet on Saturday. When Coach pulls Sunny aside, Sunny, “like a soda bottle with bubbles rising up through the body, up the neck” (43), says that his mother died giving birth to him, his father is mad at him, and that is the only reason he runs. He also admits that he does not want to run anymore. Coach is supportive but explains that Sunny cannot be on the team anymore if he does not want to run. Coach asks Sunny what he wants to do instead and that he will try to help him however he can. Sunny tells Coach that he wants to dance and begins performing one of the routines Aurelia taught him.
Coach takes some time to think, and then asks Sunny to “do the whoosh part again” (46) meaning the spinning part of his dance routine. After a few spins, Coach takes Sunny to the trunk of his car and hands him a discus, asking if Sunny would like to try throwing discus for the Defenders.
On the ride home, Darryl asks Sunny what the discus is for. Sunny explains that he will be throwing discus from now on instead of running the mile. At home, Sunny and Darryl work on one of their puzzles. Sunny explains that years ago, Darryl invested in a puzzle company founded by their neighbor, Mr. Nico. The company turns photographs into puzzles, so Sunny and Darryl work on puzzles of Sunny’s mother every day.
In a final entry, Sunny writes down a conversation with himself in which he tries to think about whether Darryl will be mad that he is giving up running for discus. He ends the entry by explaining to his diary that “talking to you is talking to you, and sometimes I need to talk to me” (60).
Chapter 5 Summary: “Tuesday”
Every Tuesday and Thursday, Sunny and Aurelia go to dance for the patients at the hospital where Sunny’s grandfather works. Sunny tells his grandfather that he has quit running, and that he only ran “because of my mother. Because of my father. Because of my mother” (63). He tells his grandfather that his mother was also a dancer, which is what he would rather do.
Sunny writes about his favorite patient, Mr. Rufus, who was once a dancer as well. Sunny explains that when he and Aurelia begin the music for their routine, Mr. Rufus moves to the music as well from his hospital bed. Sunny believes Mr. Rufus dances to stay connected to his identity: “he understands what dancing is for. It’s not just to watch, it’s to do, to remind yourself that you’re still… you” (70).
At practice that afternoon, Sunny takes part in stretches with the rest of the team, but his teammate Lynn asks why he is bothering to stretch since he is not running anymore. Sunny tries to explain that he is still a runner, he just does not run, and Lynn starts to give him a tough time. Sunny’s friends Patty and Lu jump in to defend Sunny and his choice.
As the other runners begin training, Coach takes Sunny to the bald spot in the center of the track and gives him instructions. Sunny expects to throw the discus right away, but Coach tells him that he must learn how to “whoosh whoosh” (75) first, i.e., learn to spin correctly. After practice, Darryl asks Sunny how it went, which Sunny takes as a good sign that he might not be as mad anymore.
Darryl tells Sunny that his grandfather called, and that he suggested Darryl talk to Sunny about why he quit running. As Sunny struggles to think of what to say, their neighbor Mr. Nico arrives and starts his usual routine of telling Darryl that he should date Mr. Nico’s sister, Ms. Linda. Sunny works a little longer on a puzzle of his mother’s face and goes upstairs to bed.
That night, Sunny lies awake unable to sleep. A sound breaks the silence and Sunny thinks Darryl must be “choking on his own snore” (78). Eventually, he realizes Darryl is crying.
Chapters 4-5 Analysis
These chapters introduce the important people in Sunny’s life and how they support his growth and change as he transitions from running. Sunny’s relationship with Darryl remains strained after his decision to quit running, but other characters such as Sunny’s teacher, Aurelia, his coach, Coach, express support and provide Sunny with opportunities to explore new facets of his identity.
Aurelia encourages Sunny’s interest in dance. Sunny writes that his parents were planners and that Aurelia “was supposed to be my teacher, all along” (23). Beyond being his teacher, Aurelia and Sunny’s mother were best friends growing up, and therefore Aurelia acts as a link between Sunny and the mother he never got to know. She helps Sunny feel connected to his mother through bringing her to life through stories and showing Sunny what kind of person his mother was. When Aurelia takes Sunny to get a tattoo commemorating her 20th year of freedom from drug addiction, she reveals the key role Sunny’s mother played in her sobriety journey. Sunny’s mother had “begged her to come to a dance class so she could stay busy and keep her mind off getting lost again” (31). The star tattoos that Aurelia gets every year on her anniversary are an homage to Sunny’s mother, who went with her on her first anniversary and got a matching “really, really bad” (31) star tattoo to celebrate.
Like Aurelia, Coach creates space for Sunny to figure out who he is and what he wants. When Sunny tells Coach that he wants to quit running, Coach listens openly and tells Sunny that while it does not make sense for him to be on the team if he is not running, “he still loved me and wanted to see if he could help me with whatever else I wanted to do” (43-44). Coach’s idea to have Sunny stay on the team as a discus thrower is an example of the kind of support Sunny needs in his life and in some ways fills the space that Darryl is unable to occupy. Coach embraces the change in Sunny even though it is unexpected and finds a way to incorporate Sunny’s interest in dance so that he can stay on the team. This gives Sunny the space to explore this new part of his identity without judgment.
Though Sunny and Darryl struggle to communicate, there is evidence of the way they care for one another. As Sunny explains how he and Darryl work on puzzles that feature photographs of his mother every day, Sunny writes in his diary of Darryl: “He wanted to make sure I knew her. At least, her face. her smile. And I did. I do” (53). Darryl uses the puzzles as a way for Sunny to remain connected to his mother, and to connect with Sunny. He devotes time every night to working on the puzzles, which serve as symbols of their family unit. At the beginning of each new puzzle Darryl and Sunny must “figure out how to make her—how to put it together” (53). In doing so, they fall into a rhythm, and build a visual representation of the missing member of their family.
Related Titles
By Jason Reynolds
