Winnie Nash is Not Your Sunshine
Nicole Melleby
In this powerful new novel by award-winning author Nicole Melleby, 12-year-old Winnie Nash is forced to live with her grandma for the summer and finds herself torn between her family’s secrets and the joy of celebrating Pride. Winnifred “Winnie” Nash is not a senior citizen, despite what anyone thinks of her name. And she is definitely not excited to live with her grandma in New Jersey for the summer. Not only are they basically strangers, but Winnie—who’s always known she’s gay—has been pushed into the metaphorical closet by her parents, who worry what Grandma will think. So Winnie keeps quiet about the cute girls she befriends; plays card games with seniors, which she does not enjoy; and dreams of the day she can go to the Pride Parade in New York City—a day that can’t happen when she’s hiding the truth from Grandma. Meanwhile, her mom’s latest pregnancy is approaching its due date, and Winnie is worried it might end like the ones before, with Winnie still an only child. As she tries so hard to be an agreeable, selfless daughter, getting to NYC for Pride is feeling more and more like her only escape from a family who needs her to always smile. Winnie Nash is not your sunshine—and maybe it’s time to show the world who she really is.
Publication Year: 2024
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0~~Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Young Readers for the ARC!~~
3.5/5 stars rounded up.
Ugghh, this book gave me a lot of feels, but there are a couple things personally keeping me back from loving it more.
Firstly, I adore Winnie and her grandma's relationship. Their progression from near strangers to close loved ones was so sweet. Grandma's patience and kindness to Winnie's struggles throughout the story almost made me cry. It's also no surprise Grandma was never homophobic. She admits not knowing about the LGBTQ+, but it didn't stop her from accepting Winnie as soon as it was found out. She still handled it with so much grace; I just really loved that. The second best part of the book was Winnie's blossoming relationship with Pippa and Lucía, who both are endearing in their own ways.
My biggest grip with the book comes from the parents. They force Winnie to go into the closet for her grandmother, but once it's revealed she wasn't homophobic, they don't explain why they did that. Maybe Winnie's mom didn't know about her mom's friendship with a gay couple, but that's just me speculating. Even if she didn't know, that doesn't excuse forcing Winnie into the closet. Additionally, her mom's explanation for neglecting her daughter's emotional needs felt hollow. She says she had depression from her miscarriages (I also liked that this book plainly used the word 'miscarriages' several times. I appreciate Melleby's bluntness when tackling topics like these), but she really wanted another kid and was willing to keep trying. She even asked Winnie if that was selfish of her, to which Winnie basically answered no to. I personally believe people shouldn't be emotionally neglecting the kid(s) they have in favor for the one that hasn't grown out of the womb yet (I'm also putting equal blame on Winnie's dad, too. He bears responsibility as Winnie's other parent) but I also must acknowledge I haven't experienced pregnancy, much less what Winnie's mom went through. But my feelings were too strong for Winnie to not feel a bit angry on her behalf for her parents' neglect, which is why I personally feel I can't fully love this book.
Overall, this was a good book, but some personal beliefs of mine regarding the handling of the parents held me back from fully enjoying it. I still would wholeheartedly recommend this book, as the relationship between Winnie and her grandma is stellar, and the discussion of miscarriages was done so well here.
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