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 6-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 6 Summary: “Wednesday”
Sunny does not ask Darryl if he is okay after hearing him crying in the night. Sunny writes that hearing Darryl cry is normal; in fact, Darryl cries often on birthdays, anniversaries, every time they finish a puzzle. Sunny also writes that he learned a long time ago not to ask Darryl if he is okay, because he did once, and Darryl yelled at him.
Aurelia takes Sunny to see the film Baraka, a non-narrative documentary film that depicts wordless scenes of nature and human activity. The film mesmerizes Sunny, and he describes it as “Everything everywhere” (82). At the end, Aurelia asks Sunny what he thought about the film Sunny admits that he does not know. Aurelia tells him that she thinks it's about the fact that “everything is moving. Everything. Even the things that are not are, because the world is moving [...] everything is changing constantly [...] and that somehow everything is still connected” (84). Sunny likes this explanation and tries to explain the film to Patty at track practice later.
Another runner, Aaron, interrupts Sunny to say that he should not be talking because he is not a runner anymore, but again Sunny’s friends stick up for him. Coach teaches Sunny the second turn, “the second whoosh” (87).
Sunny tries to explain Baraka to Darryl later that evening. As Sunny recalls the sound of the flutes at the opening of the film, thinking about the “sad and happy” (89) feeling of the flutes makes him bring up why he quit running. Sunny asks Darryl why he did not ask him about it when it happened. Darryl says he didn’t know what to ask, and that Sunny should continue to run because he is the best on the team and his mother “didn’t get to do this. To run her race” (90).
The conversation escalates until Sunny lashes out at Darryl and says that he finds running boring, that Darryl never asks him what he actually wants to do, and “You say I have to breathe, but I can’t. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe” (91). Darryl is silent and begins to shake. He nods his head vigorously and puts his head down on the table with the puzzle still on it. Darryl apologizes and tells Sunny to go to bed.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Thursday”
Aurelia arrives late the next morning and tells Sunny they have to eat in a rush before heading to the hospital. Sunny chokes on a hard piece of biscuit. He begins to panic and knock things around the kitchen. Aurelia tries the Heimlich maneuver on him, but the maneuver does not work and eventually the piece of biscuit just goes down. Sunny and Aurelia laugh about the ordeal after he gets over how scary it was in the moment, and Sunny thinks the day can only get better from here.
Gramps is already in the lobby when Aurelia and Sunny arrive. Sunny notices that Gramps looks “like his thoughts were making his stomach hurt. Like they were milk that had become glue in his gut” (100). Gramps tells Sunny that Mr. Rufus is in a coma. Gramps tells them that while Mr. Rufus will not be able to see their dance, he can still hear them.
Sunny begins to tell the unconscious Mr. Rufus about his birthday on Saturday before pausing to collect his thoughts, which is “hard for me to do because they are all over my head” (103). Sunny decides to tell Mr. Rufus about Baraka and about Aurelia’s theory that everything is moving, which includes Mr. Rufus. When he finishes, Gramps asks Sunny if there is anything else he would like to say. Sunny decides to perform his dance routine but with sounds to stand for the movements, so that Mr. Rufus can hear it.
In his office, Gramps gives Sunny a photograph of his mother from the day of her baby shower. In the photo, Sunny’s mother is a blur of movement. Aurelia recalls the day of the shower and how Sunny’s mother wanted to dance, even though she could barely move at that point in her pregnancy. Sunny cries thinking about the fact that he is also in the photograph: “Her face. My face in hers. My body in hers” (106).
At practice, Sunny practices throwing the discus, which is harder than he thought. As he struggles to get the technique right, Coach reminds him that “it’s like dancing” (112). His teammates return from their run and begin calling out supportive statements to Sunny. Sunny winds up to throw the discus one more time, which flies out of his hand perfectly flat—and heads right for the rest of the team. His teammates scatter and the discus crashes into the bench. Sunny feels like he doesn’t belong until his friends step in to get the rest of the team off his back. Coach tells Sunny that Sunny will have extra practice to prepare for Saturday’s meet.
That night, Darryl goes out with Ms. Linda for the first time, and Sunny sits in his room looking at the photograph of his mother. Sunny writes a diary entry addressed “Dear Mom” (121). In this entry, Sunny imagines what life would be like if his mother were still alive. He then writes another entry addressed “Dear Darryl” (125) and writes “Dad. Dad. Dad. Dad” (125). Sunny writes that he wishes Darryl would hug him or tell him “why you make me call you Darryl. And not Dad” (126). He closes the entry by saying he wishes he and Darryl were not like statues without arms, or like puzzles.
Chapters 6-7 Analysis
Aurelia takes Sunny to see the 1992 non-narrative documentary film, Baraka. The film has a profound effect on Sunny and leaves him nearly speechless: “Baraka must mean something like Whoa. Either Whoa, or maybe it is the sound tears make but not the ones that come out, the ones that stay in” (83). In actuality, the word baraka is an Arabic word meaning blessing, essence, or breath. Understanding the meaning of things is important to Sunny, and he often uses noises and sounds to make meaning of the world around him. Sunny’s description captures the enormity of the film’s scope, which depicts the beauty and pain that exist simultaneously in the world. This description of the film illustrates Sunny’s deep well of emotional intelligence and openness.
Aurelia also influences Sunny’s understanding of Baraka. Aurelia tells Sunny that she thinks the film is about “everything is moving. Everything. Even the things that are not are because the world is moving. It is spinning, so everything is changing constantly. Her, me, Darryl, and even you. And that somehow everything is still connected” (84). This analysis resonates with Sunny, whose own life contains countless moving pieces, some of which do not feel connected.
This analysis also accounts for the fact that movement signifies change, and that while everything is constantly changing, shifting, and moving, connections are also able to change and therefore remain intact. Learning this through viewing the film helps Sunny contextualize and process challenges that occur in Chapters 6 and 7, like Mr. Rufus falling into a coma. While Sunny struggles with this, he also believes: “That we’re all moving. Even when we are not moving. I told him that was the good news. That he’s still moving” (104). The film enables Sunny to better hold two seemingly opposite ideas as both true.
The idea that everything is connected despite movement and change relates to the emotional argument that Sunny and Darryl have in Chapter 6. Darryl expresses frustration because he does not understand how Sunny could hate running when he is so good at it. He also tells Sunny that he should be thinking about his mother when it comes to these decisions because “She didn’t get to do this. To run her race” (90). Darryl’s statement reveals Darryl’s mindset when it comes to Sunny, and how little of it has to do with Sunny himself.
Unlike Coach or Aurelia, Darryl stays fixated on the idea that Sunny can and should be living up to Darryl’s imagined ideas of what Sunny’s mother would want him to do. Darryl wants Sunny’s mother’s memory to live vicariously through Sunny, but through the narrow focus of running and without consideration of who Sunny is. This prompts Sunny to reveal the resentment towards Darryl he carries inside. He tells Darryl:
[You] never asked me what I do like, or if there’s anything else I want to try [...] As long as I kept winning, right? And even when I do, you tell me it’s not good enough [...] my breathing is off, breathe, Sunny. Breathe [...] You say I have to breathe, but I can’t. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe (91).
Breathing is an important motif within the text, and the repetition of this phrase illustrates how Sunny chokes under the weight of Darryl’s expectations of him and narrow definition of who he is and can be. Though their argument releases some of the unspoken tension that simmers between them, Sunny’s choking episode in Chapter 7 is symbolic of the fact that things remain unresolved between Sunny and Darryl. As Sunny continues to grow in confidence in his new path, their connection will shift as they figure out how to relate to one another.
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