This book finished with the author's notes about her family. The book was a fictionalized history about Holm's colorful immigrant family; primarily Italian. The book is like a noisy fun Thanksgiving feast where the more fantastic and eccentric the family members, the merrier. It has a bright upbeat writing style based on the 40's song "Pennies from Heaven." I really enjoy hearing about that era and it's optomistic outlook in tough times, with everyone working hard and helping eachother.

Penny and her cousin Freddy galavant across the pages with various predicaments and ever lively family member. Penny From Heaven is reminiscent of how much fun it is to be a kid, even with Penny dealing with the silent stigma of the loss of her father. The complexities of life as seen from a child's vantage point have far less seriosness and seem to be more taken in stride with the support of a stron family network.