Image: Penguin Random House
Teen Tuesday features a pensive debut, Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions by Navdeep Singh Dhillon. The only thing Sunny Gill's brother, Goldy, left him when he died a year ago was a notebook filled with ramblings. Goldy was an alcoholic who died from alcohol poisoning and while Sunny is still grieving, he's also furious at his brother for not choosing to stay sober-for making bad decisions. With prom looming on the night of Goldi's barsi, Sunny decides to make a series of rash decisions starting with ditching his turban, cutting his hair and shaving his beard and ending with attending prom alone instead of the Snollygoster Soiree with his bestie Ngozi.
He doesn't even recognize himself and is beginning to think going to prom was a huge mistake when Mindii breezes in, steals Goldy's notebook and dares him to really make good "rash" decisions. Sunny hops onto the back of Mindii's motorcycle and off into the Fresno night to make a series of rash decisions.
While fast-paced and often humorous, Sunny is introspective and wrestling with grief, insecurity due to his stutter and with his Sikh faith. Mindii is empathetic and a good listener, and as the night goes on, the two form a sweet bond as she coaxes Sunny to live a little.
I appreciated the narrator's gentle, thoughtful approach to Sunny as well as learning the proper pronunciation of Sikh and Punjabi words.
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