Sunshine Daydream Winslow

[sotypical42483]

Thoughts on Sunny? I LOVE her! She is my favorite "fringe" character. I especially love her in her CD books. I love her in Dawn's Portrait, too... the cute little hippie girl who knows morse code so cute. I love Sunny and I feel like she's a pretty rounded out character (thanks to CD). the way she deals with the problems in her life by rebelling is really sad, but it's understandable when you read things from her POV. She's the girl who somehow always gets everyone else in trouble (which I can relate to!) but underneath her hard exterior is really just a little girl. I read Sunny Diary #3 recently and man I cried through the whole entire thing! Can't even imagine going through what she's been through. She's my favorite CA girl

[msstock87]

I always liked Sunny myself. I agree with you I thought she was a cute little hippie girl when she was a kid. In the California Diaries series I honestly felt for her. I know she was being a jerk to a lot of people around her at the time but everybody reacts differently in that kind of situation. I cried during Sunny # 3 as well

[dawnomite]

I like Sunny too. She's always felt more "real" to me than any of the other Characters.
She was the character in the CD books who seemed "real" to me. I loved Dawn in the BSC books but in the CD books she always seemed like kind of a goody-goody. Sunny always acted how I wished Dawn would. As a teenager reading those books I was very much like Dawn but wished I was more like Sunny so maybe that's why I found her so appealing.

[aln1982]

I've gone on about my thoughts about Sunny (which are totally different than everyone else's in the CA friends threads so I won't repeat here - especially since I know I'm in the minority. I probably don't like her because she was a little hippie kid as reading Dawn's Book actually made me dislike her (and Dawn) much more. I also think I didn't like her because I connected the change in Dawn from the old Dawn that I liked to the activist Dawn in the later series that I didn't like to being around Sunny more again when she went back to CA (probably not true but this is how it seemed.) I did feel sorry for Sunny when her mom got sick.
But I probably have totally different views on all of the hippie stuff than everyone else on here too so I won't get into all of this.
I've never read the CA Diaries. Is Sunny different in those than in the regular series?

[sotypical42483]

I don't understand what you mean by "hippie stuff", aln! I mean I know Dawn and Sunny, etc are like the "hippies" in BSC books, but really they aren't THAT much different from the others. Maybe a bit more healthy and aware of the world around them. Sunny is pretty much the "bad girl" in the CD books, which I think was KINDA portrayed in the regular series, but is much more obvious and exagerated in CD.

[inge]

I've unfortunately never read a CD book, so I don't have too much to add to the discussion... but somehow, out of the few times I've read about her, I've come to like Sunny a lot. That may just be because her name is Sunshine Daydream, which is kind of sad for her, but awesome at the same time

[booboobrewer]

I like the character of Sunny, and how she became much darker in CD. I thought her whole rebelling-as-a-coping-mechanism thing was well-written. She could be infuriating but you also symphathized with her (I did, at least!), which to me was a sign of a well-written character.

Aside from the chapter in Dawn's book, they didn't seem like that much of a hippie family to me. It was in Mr. and Mrs. Winslow's past, and they raised Sunny that way for awhile, but they seem to have pretty much moved on. Dawn mentions that the peace sign flower bed that they planted is no longer there. But they seemed very open and accepting. I like how Dawn always described Mrs. Winslow as "so warm and loving" and like a second mother to her, which made her death all the more sad

[dawnomite]

inge said:

I've unfortunately never read a CD book, so I don't have too much to add to the discussion... but somehow, out of the few times I've read about her, I've come to like Sunny a lot. That may just be because her name is Sunshine Daydream, which is kind of sad for her, but awesome at the same time

I love her name too. For some reason I misread it as "Sunshine Daylight" for a long time though. I have this book in 3rd grade that I made for a Class Project with one Character named "Daylight Daffodil"
I'm sort of glad I misread the name because it makes it less obvious that I was "inspired" by the BSC books.

[sotypical42483]

I love her name too! I think Sunny is a really cute nickname! I'd never name a child Sunshine, but Sunny is really cute And I agree with booboo, even though she becomes all rebellious and kind of hard to handle, you can sympathize with her and you don't hold it against her. I also agree with you about her mom. She seemed very sweet and I loved how Dawn felt so close to her. In Sunny's Diary #3 when she dies, it's really interesting how it affects Dawn so much. Really sad, but also a nice tough. Another thing I noticed in that Diary is Sunny's close relationship with Carol. I must be missing something, because when on earth did that develop? I haven't read all the CD books so I'm wondering if it's in one I haven't read.

[hitzpink]

I haven't read any of the CA Diaries yet so I don't know as much about Sunny as some of you. But I do like her a lot from Dawn's Portrait and the few BSC books she pops up in. I love how her and Dawn remained friends even after Dawn's move, unlike Stacey and Laine. I also thought Sunny was adorable as a kid, she seemed to have such a big imagination and was so smart with the Morse Code thing.

I liked the Winslows a lot because they ate healthfully (although I guess not vegetarian? At least in Dawn's Portrait they were eating chicken), and tried to live naturally, like how they gave Sunny a few wooden & cloth toys as a kid instead of tons of plastic crap that will break in a month anyway. Their peace sign flowers seemed kind of over the top, but aside from that, I don't think they were too "out there."

[sotypical42483]

^I agree! The Winslows seem like an awesome family - very open and caring and happy They seemed very close and I thought it was cute!

[wanderingfrog]

dawnomite said:

I love her name too. For some reason I misread it as "Sunshine Daylight" for a long time though. I have this book in 3rd grade that I made for a Class Protect with one Character named "Daylight Daffodil"
I'm sort of glad I misread the name because it makes it less obvious that I was "inspired" by the BSC books.

I wrote a story in Grade Four and the main character was named Jessica Dawn McGill.

[aln1982]

I'm rereading Stacey and the Bad Girls right now and didn't remember this was the one where Dawn finds out Sunny's mom is sick. Even though I'm not a big fan of Sunny's, I really feel for her in this book. I think it's nice how supportive Dawn is - wish she was my friend I do like Sunny's mom really well in the few books that she is in because she seems so warm and open, like the type who would interact with her kids and their friends. She does get some better, right?
I also like the thing about smoking creating the problems for her and the anti-smoking message this sends. I know so many people (my grandpa included) who have gotten cancer from smoking. Recently, a lady from my church died from lung cancer that they are almost sure was caused by second hand smoke - very sad.

[sotypical42483]

^Sunny's mom dies! It's in Sunny Diary #3 - the one I cried the entire way through!

[aln1982]

^ No! Thanks for warning me so I didn't read that one. I don't plan to read the CA Diaries anyway and that is definitely another reason. I'm kind of surprised that they did that. But I guess Diaries have more weighty issues than BSC books, which only kill of minor characters like Amelia (I prefer this if anyone has to die