The Secret Sunshine Project

The Secret Sunshine Project by Benjamin Dean is a sweet, feel-good story about family and love. I enjoyed it, and I felt my eyes prick more than once as I turned the pages, revelling in warm, fuzzy emotions of acceptance and belonging.

When Riley comes out to her family, the London Pride becomes one of the most magical experiences of her life. Bea, her younger sister, tells us the story–of how glittery and wonderful Pride is. But things change overnight when their father falls ill, rapidly declines, and then dies. Their mother struggles to hold things together, but ultimately, they move to their Gran’s place for the summer, far away from the only home they know, and more importantly, far away from London Pride.

Bea sees Riley’s light fading, and she wants to bring the sunshine back to Riley’s clouds. With her new friends in St. Regent’s Vale, she’s determined to make it happen.

The warmth of the storytelling is what made The Secret Sunshine Project work for me. The antagonist, Rita Ruckus, seemed a little farfetched in how frightening she was to the whole town. In several places, it also felt like the characters took rather long to see what the obvious route ahead was. And yet, lovable characters and a sense of kinship with them drove the story for me, making this middle-grade story an uplifting, light-hearted read.