At the meet, Aurelia and Gramps arrive carrying a bushel of balloons. Saturday is the day of the meet and Sunny’s birthday. Later, they have an honest conversation in which Darryl admits that he feels inadequate as a father without Sunny’s mother there to co-parent with them. They eat breakfast together and learn how to navigate the new boundaries of their relationship as they try to communicate better. The next morning, Darryl takes off work to spend time with Sunny. Coach tells Sunny that he will have to have an added practice on Friday to be better prepared for the meet on Saturday.Īfter finding Sunny crying, Darryl apologizes for being emotionally unavailable and pushing Sunny away. Rufus anyway by applying a sound to each movement in the routine.Īt practice, Sunny struggles to throw the discus correctly, and nearly hits his teammates with an errant throw. Sunny gets the idea to perform his dance for Mr. Rufus is now in a coma after a rapid decline in health. Sunny says the pressure Darryl puts on him is suffocating.Īt the hospital, Sunny learns that Mr. Darryl tries to convince Sunny that he needs to keep running because his mother no longer can. Gramps calls Darryl and that night Darryl asks Sunny to explain a little more about why he wants to quit running. In Gramps’s office, Sunny explains that he will not run anymore, and that he wants to pursue his interest in dance. They dance for the patients there and Sunny sees his favorite patient, Mr. Sunny and Aurelia go to the hospital where Sunny’s grandfather, Gramps, works. He invites Sunny to try a completely different event: the discus throw. Sunny’s coach is supportive after Sunny explains his complicated family situation and his reasons for wanting to quit. Sunny has become increasingly interested in dance and movement, which he learns from his private teacher, Aurelia, who was his mother’s best friend and is recovering from an addiction. Instead, they do puzzles every night that depict pictures of Sunny’s mother. Sunny and his father are not comfortable addressing the weight of this loss. Running is something his father, Darryl, expects Sunny to do to fulfill his promise and honor his deceased mother. Sunny explains that he has begun writing in his diary again after a long hiatus to cope with his anxiety that is increasing because he has decided to quit running for his track team, the Defenders.

Over the course of a week, protagonist Sunny Lancaster writes a series of journal entries about his day-to-day life and how he navigates the issues that affect him such as childhood trauma, exploring new interests, and family relationships.

Jason reynolds sunny