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Sunny #3
Sunny Rolls the Dice: A Graphic Novel
Too cool for school . . . or the least groovy girl in the grade?
Sunny's just made it to middle school . . . and it's making her life very confusing. All her best friend Deb wants to talk about is fashion, boys, makeup, boys, and being cool. Sunny's not against any of these things, but she also doesn't understand why suddenly everything revolves around them. She's much more comfortable when she's in her basement, playing Dungeons & Dragons with a bunch of new friends. Because when you're swordfighting and spider-slaying, it's hard to worry about whether you look cool or not. Especially when it's your turn to roll the 20-sided die.
Trying hard to be cool can make you feel really uncool . . . and it's much more fun to just have fun. Sunny's going to find her groove and her own kind of groovy, with plenty of laughs along the way.
Sunny's just made it to middle school . . . and it's making her life very confusing. All her best friend Deb wants to talk about is fashion, boys, makeup, boys, and being cool. Sunny's not against any of these things, but she also doesn't understand why suddenly everything revolves around them. She's much more comfortable when she's in her basement, playing Dungeons & Dragons with a bunch of new friends. Because when you're swordfighting and spider-slaying, it's hard to worry about whether you look cool or not. Especially when it's your turn to roll the 20-sided die.
Trying hard to be cool can make you feel really uncool . . . and it's much more fun to just have fun. Sunny's going to find her groove and her own kind of groovy, with plenty of laughs along the way.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2019
540 people are currently reading
5085 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer L. Holm
129 books1,728 followersJennifer L. Holm is a USA TODAY and NEW YORK TIMES-bestselling children's author with more than 9.8 million books in print She is the recipient of three Newbery Honors for her novels OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA, PENNY FROM HEAVEN, and TURTLE IN PARADISE and a Scott O'Dell Award for her novel FULL OF BEANS.
Jennifer collaborates with her brother, Matthew Holm, on three bestselling graphic novel series -- the Eisner Award-winning Babymouse series, the SUNNY series, and the Squish series. SQUISH is now an animated tv series on YouTube!
For more information, visit her website at www.jenniferholm.com.
Jennifer collaborates with her brother, Matthew Holm, on three bestselling graphic novel series -- the Eisner Award-winning Babymouse series, the SUNNY series, and the Squish series. SQUISH is now an animated tv series on YouTube!
For more information, visit her website at www.jenniferholm.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 592 reviews
January 22, 2021
I have read the other Sunny stories and this is my favorite. It is a quick read and it's funny and charming. I was too little in the 70s to have done much of the things in here, but we still knew about them in the 80s and its such a trip to see all those 70s things in a story and think they are so old.
I never played Dungeons and Dragons as a kid, but there were books in the library and I knew people who did. No one in my circle of friends did. This book is about Sunny dealing with growing up and figuring out who she is and how to be friends with all the people changing around her. The book uses Dungeons and Dragons to explore all this and its very well done. I simply love it.
Sunny's friends are interested in boys and piercing ears and dances while sunny is into her character and playing with the boys at D & D. She doesn't see the difference in talking about boys and playing with time. She thinks, why not play games with them instead of talking about them. Something like that anyway. Sunny wants to be 'groovy', but most of the time she feels like a failure.
The artwork is colorful and rich and the scenes are quick and get the point of junior high across. It's a great story for anyone entering into Junior High.
I never played Dungeons and Dragons as a kid, but there were books in the library and I knew people who did. No one in my circle of friends did. This book is about Sunny dealing with growing up and figuring out who she is and how to be friends with all the people changing around her. The book uses Dungeons and Dragons to explore all this and its very well done. I simply love it.
Sunny's friends are interested in boys and piercing ears and dances while sunny is into her character and playing with the boys at D & D. She doesn't see the difference in talking about boys and playing with time. She thinks, why not play games with them instead of talking about them. Something like that anyway. Sunny wants to be 'groovy', but most of the time she feels like a failure.
The artwork is colorful and rich and the scenes are quick and get the point of junior high across. It's a great story for anyone entering into Junior High.
August 28, 2020
"An 'elven cloak' would be really handy during gym class." -- Sunny Lewin, pondering the usefulness of invisibility during her Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying, on page 75
While I really enjoyed the low-key adventures of blonde middle-schooler Sunny Lewin in the one-two graphic-novel punch of Sunny Side Up and Swing It, Sunny, the threequel Sunny Rolls the Dice seems just sort of average. The storyline this time is largely absent of any actual familial drama - arguably part of the effectiveness of the initial two books - and is geared more towards fractured friendships and school activities. In other words, the series shifts gears into conventional pre-teen melodrama that can be found in countless other books. Still, the 70's nostalgia factor has its charms (the Charlie's Angels TV series, lava lamps, roller-disco), and Sunny remains a relatable protagonist.
While I really enjoyed the low-key adventures of blonde middle-schooler Sunny Lewin in the one-two graphic-novel punch of Sunny Side Up and Swing It, Sunny, the threequel Sunny Rolls the Dice seems just sort of average. The storyline this time is largely absent of any actual familial drama - arguably part of the effectiveness of the initial two books - and is geared more towards fractured friendships and school activities. In other words, the series shifts gears into conventional pre-teen melodrama that can be found in countless other books. Still, the 70's nostalgia factor has its charms (the Charlie's Angels TV series, lava lamps, roller-disco), and Sunny remains a relatable protagonist.
May 24, 2020
Many thanks to Scholastic Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review
As expected, I loved it. Sunny and her friends have always been close to my heart. Especially because I came across the graphic novel series when I was going through an especially rough time. (I mean when am I not but you know what I mean). This book delivered the humor and love that every previous book has. I loved the topic of "Grooviness" and seeing Sunny explore her idea of being cool and what that meant for her. Four strong stars! Highly recommended!
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June 22, 2020
Don't worry about that groovy meter, Sunny. Just do you. Love, love, love all the 70's pop culture. Love's Baby Soft. Gloria Vanderbilt Jeans. Portable cassette players. So much fun to relive that era along with Sunny. I was not a D&D player, but I love the way the game highlights Sunny's uncertainty and gave her an alternative to hanging out with Deb. I want more Grandpa! Also more of Sunny's flag-twirling neighbor. Actually, please just give us more Sunny!
November 17, 2019
While Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm's graphic novel Sunny Rolls the Dice is of course and naturally from its content and storyline squarely situated in the late 1970s and early 1980s (and yes, as a child and teenager of that time, I also do very fondly remember playing Dungeons and Dragons, not ever as religiously and as avidly and with all of the diverse paraphernalia that Sunny and her friends did, but yes, we often played D & D during lunchtime at school and indeed sometimes even during French and Social Studies classes and of course much to our teachers' justifiable and righteous chagrin, but especially in Junior High, French in particular was so boringly and simplistically taught that in oder for me to manage to stay awake, D & D was in fact sometimes required) what I have indeed found both problematic and at the time also rather reassuring with regard to Sunny Rolls the Dice is that whatever Sunny has to consider and deal with during Middle School is not only important and necessary for her (or my) time as a young teenager of the 70s and 80s but is also still totally relevant today both in reality and in literature or movies (scenarios like for example Sunny growing increasingly away from her best friend Deb, that while Sunny does not yet want her life dominated by questions of liking boys for anything other than simple playmates and Dungeons and Dragons sparring partners, Deb is beginning to be totally into boys as romance material, that she is carving fashion, new hairdos, shopping, getting her ears pierced, looking and being "cool" and "groovy"). And with this I basically mean to say that even though Sunny Rolls the Dice has been a for me personally sweetly (and sometimes also a trifle painfully) nostalgic look at my own life as a young teenager, albeit that hot rollers, Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, Dungeons and Dragons, roller skating derbies etc. are content wise way way over thirty years old, the thematics of how to manage the rules of Middle School, of how to deal with friendships emerging and waning, how to fit in or whether to decide to go your own way and not really care what your friends think, that is as important now as it was then, and yes, I do highly recommend Sunny Rolls the Dice as a wonderful continuation of the Holms' Sunny series (and I do hope that there will be more Sunny graphic novels and that I will continue to be enchanted with and by them).
October 14, 2019
It is interesting to notice how many books about middle school have to do with trying to figure out the rules of middle school. And it is so true. There are so many unwritten rules that somehow the other girls know, instinctively, and we, who don’t, can’t figure out what all the fuss is about.
Poor Sunny doesn’t understand why playing Dungeons and Dragons with the boys is not fun for her best friend, who tells her she should be doing other things, like make-up and boys, and “girly” things.
What I love about this story is that Sunny realizes what she really loves in the end, and sticks to it. Often, girls will give up something they love because of those unwritten rules.
Hooray for Sunny for figuring it out.
Poor Sunny doesn’t understand why playing Dungeons and Dragons with the boys is not fun for her best friend, who tells her she should be doing other things, like make-up and boys, and “girly” things.
What I love about this story is that Sunny realizes what she really loves in the end, and sticks to it. Often, girls will give up something they love because of those unwritten rules.
Hooray for Sunny for figuring it out.
June 15, 2025
Original review of 10/21/19
I continue to enjoy the Sunny series and especially appreciate the 1970s nostalgia. However, reading this almost immediately after the Raina Telgemeier books makes me realize it's just not in the same league -- which just goes to show how great a range there is in my three star reviews...
Reread of 6/15/25
I originally read the first four books in this series as they came out, but now, having realized that there was a fifth one I missed and that a sixth one is coming out soon, I'm reading them straight through for the first time. I liked Sunny Rolls the Dice better than I did originally. The Dungeons & Dragons aspect of the plot line (so not groovy, according to the teen magazines Sunny reads) was fun -- and had personal resonance for me, as at roughly the same age as Sunny, a formerly close friend was disdainfully amused when she learned I was still interested the game.
Still, I think this is the weakest of the series so far, and agree with another reviewer that whereas the first two books have some emotional depths (all the more effective for being handled with a light touch) this is a more generic pleasant but unremarkable account of evolving middle school friendships, like so many books of its ilk.
Because I'm a pedant, I'll mention that the discrepancy of Sunny's friend Deb moving out of the house next door in the previous book, but still somehow living more or less on the same block in this one made me twitchy with irritation.
I continue to enjoy the Sunny series and especially appreciate the 1970s nostalgia. However, reading this almost immediately after the Raina Telgemeier books makes me realize it's just not in the same league -- which just goes to show how great a range there is in my three star reviews...
Reread of 6/15/25
I originally read the first four books in this series as they came out, but now, having realized that there was a fifth one I missed and that a sixth one is coming out soon, I'm reading them straight through for the first time. I liked Sunny Rolls the Dice better than I did originally. The Dungeons & Dragons aspect of the plot line (so not groovy, according to the teen magazines Sunny reads) was fun -- and had personal resonance for me, as at roughly the same age as Sunny, a formerly close friend was disdainfully amused when she learned I was still interested the game.
Still, I think this is the weakest of the series so far, and agree with another reviewer that whereas the first two books have some emotional depths (all the more effective for being handled with a light touch) this is a more generic pleasant but unremarkable account of evolving middle school friendships, like so many books of its ilk.
Because I'm a pedant, I'll mention that the discrepancy of Sunny's friend Deb moving out of the house next door in the previous book, but still somehow living more or less on the same block in this one made me twitchy with irritation.
August 15, 2020
Sunny faces a dilemma when her best friend gets really interested in boys, but Sunny would rather play Dungeons and Dragons with her other friends. When her best friend drops out of the Dungeons and Dragons group because it's not cool (the story takes place in the 70s when it really wasn't cool), Sunny has to decide whether to pretend to be interested in boys and fashion with her best friend or continue playing Dungeons and Dragons with her other friends.
This is probably a good introduction to Dungeons and Dragons for young readers. For older readers, the story is a bit loosely structured and there are a lot of chapters that tell stories that are not focused on the main plot. However, it was still fun to read.
This is probably a good introduction to Dungeons and Dragons for young readers. For older readers, the story is a bit loosely structured and there are a lot of chapters that tell stories that are not focused on the main plot. However, it was still fun to read.
October 23, 2019
I loved this book because it took me back to my childhood years filled with roller skates, tape decks, and board games in basements.
October 25, 2019
Very episodic, but fun! There's no sense of purposeful rude treatment by Sunny's friends even as their interests diverge. Friends grow apart sometimes without it being cruel and that's okay!
December 6, 2019
This was my first Sunny book to read. I just loved the tween angst of being "groovy"!
January 1, 2021
This is the third book about Sunny that I have read. I did not like this book because a lot of it was about playing the game of Dungeons and Dragons which I do not know anything about. I was glad to read that her brother was doing better and had joined the Navy. I enjoyed seeing her Grandfather again when he came to visit at Christmas.
October 21, 2019
3.5 stars - Not quite as strong as the other two Sunny books, but maybe that is because the subject matter never got quite as serious. But that's okay too because if you're a kid with a pretty healthy home life, then just getting older can be serious and stressful.
Sunny and her guy friends all start playing D&D together around the same time her girl friends are starting to become more interested in dating and "what's groovy". It's cute and actually the drama is very low-key, but I know this is a struggle for us lady nerds as we try to decide between fitting in with other girls or embracing our geeky side, even if it means hanging out with boys.
I am glad that the boys never seemed to think it was "weird" that Sunny wanted to play D&D. They were happy to have her there.
Sunny and her guy friends all start playing D&D together around the same time her girl friends are starting to become more interested in dating and "what's groovy". It's cute and actually the drama is very low-key, but I know this is a struggle for us lady nerds as we try to decide between fitting in with other girls or embracing our geeky side, even if it means hanging out with boys.
I am glad that the boys never seemed to think it was "weird" that Sunny wanted to play D&D. They were happy to have her there.
August 29, 2019
I finished and reviewed an arc before it's published???? What a concept.
I can see why the kiddos love this and other realistic series (even though this is set FIFTY years in the past, weren't the 70s like 30 years ago? right?). Sunny rates herself on the "groovy meter" throughout the book, but really she's rating herself by her friends' standards and not her own. She begins to play D&D, while she had already begun comics back in book #1. Fun. Also, Dale is doing better in this book, so good news all around.
I can see why the kiddos love this and other realistic series (even though this is set FIFTY years in the past, weren't the 70s like 30 years ago? right?). Sunny rates herself on the "groovy meter" throughout the book, but really she's rating herself by her friends' standards and not her own. She begins to play D&D, while she had already begun comics back in book #1. Fun. Also, Dale is doing better in this book, so good news all around.
October 16, 2019
I love that it’s a book about not being cool in middle school. Sunny figures out how to be true to herself and play D & D with the neighborhood boys. I think my fourth graders will love this one too. (Although they won’t get the 70s references like I did.)
October 23, 2019
No matter how long it's been, middle school still hurts. This book absolutely captures that.
July 19, 2019
This is a cute story, about a middle schooler in the 70s who doesn't fit in with her childhood girlfriends anymore. Instead, she finds a group of nerdy guys and finds she LOVES playing D&D. I didn't much like how some of the characters were drawn.
September 1, 2019
I just love this series but book #1 will forever remain in my heart (Gramps!). Kids will enjoy this historical look at middle school in the 70s.
December 20, 2019
In high school, my best friend never tried to tell me we were too old for trick-or-treat. She knew better.
December 28, 2019
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
February 4, 2022
This is the book that first got my attention to the Sunny series. Gaming and graphic novels? Yes please! Although I am glad to have read the other books first, I was still eager to get to this one (FINALLY). I had hoped for a bit more a the geeky comments and behaviors that remind me of my gaming days, but this was toned down. I really am not a fan of Deb. wasn't before and after this one, I think Sunny needs a new best friend. Someone who will encourage her to be herself, not just fall in line with what Deb thinks is cool. There are other reasons too I don't like her much but read it for yourself to learn why! Still, glad Sunny had fun playing D&D.
March 16, 2021
Return to the decade that was the 1970s. Set in late 1977 and early 1978, Sunny plays Dungeons & Dragons, visits the mall with friends, eats a flufferbutter sandwich, roller skates at the local rink on a Friday night, feathers her hair with hot rollers and more. The 1970s were so groovy. I think this is my favorite of my books in this series.
Fans of the previous books, Raina Telgemeier or all things 1970s will want to check this I e out.
Fans of the previous books, Raina Telgemeier or all things 1970s will want to check this I e out.
July 30, 2021
Read in 25 mins !
October 27, 2019
Middle school, 1977. Sunny takes a "groovy quiz" in a teen magazine and realize she is not always groovy! Things are starting to change with her best friend Deb, who is suddenly very interested in boys and shopping and clothes, etc... Sunny enjoys those things too, but not as much as Deb. When a group of boys from the neighborhood invite her to play Dungeons and Dragons with them, she goes with Deb to play. At first she finds the game confusing, but after a while really gets into it and loves playing it. Deb does not enjoy it quite as much and eventually drops out of the group. Sunny really notices the change in their relationship when Deb wants them to save their money for a new pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, but Sunny realizes that she would rather spend her money on a D&D character figurine.
Sunny is torn between her friendship with Deb and being groovy and playing Dungeons and Dragons with the boys. She struggles with this and makes the decision not to play it anymore. But she misses it and eventually returns to the game. Luckily she is able to stay friends with Deb showing what a good friendship is like, where each girl is allowed to pursue their own interests while still remaining friends.
I enjoyed reading about Sunny and her struggle to figure out the unwritten rules of middle school. Her comparisons to the groovy meter were pretty funny. In the end, Sunny realizes what she really loves (playing Dungeons and Dragons), and sticks to it even if her friends don't think it's groovy. I was so happy to see that she went back to it and didn't give it up because it wasn't cool. This sends a good message to middle school girls. I think this a great graphic novels that middle school girls will really enjoy.
Sunny is torn between her friendship with Deb and being groovy and playing Dungeons and Dragons with the boys. She struggles with this and makes the decision not to play it anymore. But she misses it and eventually returns to the game. Luckily she is able to stay friends with Deb showing what a good friendship is like, where each girl is allowed to pursue their own interests while still remaining friends.
I enjoyed reading about Sunny and her struggle to figure out the unwritten rules of middle school. Her comparisons to the groovy meter were pretty funny. In the end, Sunny realizes what she really loves (playing Dungeons and Dragons), and sticks to it even if her friends don't think it's groovy. I was so happy to see that she went back to it and didn't give it up because it wasn't cool. This sends a good message to middle school girls. I think this a great graphic novels that middle school girls will really enjoy.
October 28, 2019
I gave this one four stars because I grew up in the 70s, and I can really relate to the D&D. Although I wasn't addicted to the game, I tried to play and had fun fumbling around trying to figure out the directions with all the dice rolling, map making, and unpredictable play. Somewhere in the house I still have a Players Handbook. I lost the Monster Manual. I think I let someone borrow it, and it never came back. Sunny has to find her place in the social environment. As children grow into adults, they do so at different rates. I remember the difficulties and awkwardness of this. It was fun reading about how Sunny navigated through these challenges, and I was happy that she chose to do what she liked instead of trying to conform to society's judgment about what was groovy or not. I think students in 5th grade and up will connect to the struggles that Sunny faces in the book, but it is probably more significant to middle school students and early high schoolers. The book is written at a second grade level, so it can be enjoyed all in one sitting.
March 1, 2024
Sunny looked so pretty at the dance 🥹
Sunny: "I just got attacked by a giant spider."
Sunny's mom: "Did you step on it?"
Sunny: "It stepped on me!"
Sunny: "An elven cloak would be really handy during gym class."
Regina: "I think that boy likes you, Sunny" -> me who thought it was a girl...
Sunny: "I’m pretty sure Teddy's scarier than any monster."
Gramps: "Hey, old girl. I brought you some orange juice from Florida"
Sunny, playing D&D: "Always look up for Giant Spiders. I had one fall on my head the first time I played and the next thing I knew..."
...
Gramps: "Now the key to bridge is..."
Sunny: "How's the navy?"
Dale: "It's hard"
Sunny: "It is?"
Dale: "Hard not to get a suntan." (he got a bad suntan)
Lev: "That was worse than the gelatinous cube." 😢
Sunny: "Do you like Gloria Vanderbilt jeans?"
Neela: "I have two pairs."
Lev: "I start to walk in-"
Sunny: "WAIT!"
Brian: "Sunny?"
Sunny: "LOOK UP!"
Lev: "Uhhh... I look at the ceiling."
Arun: "There's a Giant Spider" :)
Sunny: "Always look up for Giant Spiders" ;)
Sunny: "I just got attacked by a giant spider."
Sunny's mom: "Did you step on it?"
Sunny: "It stepped on me!"
Sunny: "An elven cloak would be really handy during gym class."
Regina: "I think that boy likes you, Sunny" -> me who thought it was a girl...
Sunny: "I’m pretty sure Teddy's scarier than any monster."
Gramps: "Hey, old girl. I brought you some orange juice from Florida"
Sunny, playing D&D: "Always look up for Giant Spiders. I had one fall on my head the first time I played and the next thing I knew..."
...
Gramps: "Now the key to bridge is..."
Sunny: "How's the navy?"
Dale: "It's hard"
Sunny: "It is?"
Dale: "Hard not to get a suntan." (he got a bad suntan)
Lev: "That was worse than the gelatinous cube." 😢
Sunny: "Do you like Gloria Vanderbilt jeans?"
Neela: "I have two pairs."
Lev: "I start to walk in-"
Sunny: "WAIT!"
Brian: "Sunny?"
Sunny: "LOOK UP!"
Lev: "Uhhh... I look at the ceiling."
Arun: "There's a Giant Spider" :)
Sunny: "Always look up for Giant Spiders" ;)
March 26, 2020
Best Sunny story yet!
Middle school has never been easy for kids to navigate, but Sunny explores ear piercing, Fluffernutters, cassette tapes, roller skating, mall shopping, earthworm dissecting and so much more. As she plays D&D she even figures out that her vision of fun may not be groovy, but it sure is adventurous.
Middle school has never been easy for kids to navigate, but Sunny explores ear piercing, Fluffernutters, cassette tapes, roller skating, mall shopping, earthworm dissecting and so much more. As she plays D&D she even figures out that her vision of fun may not be groovy, but it sure is adventurous.
October 29, 2019
While I think Sunny Side Up is probably the best in the series so far, Rolls the Dice is my favorite... because of D&D! I was (am) totally that kid who spent my Saturdays rolling the dice and spent way too much allowance on miniatures (still do!)
January 25, 2021
How is it possible to love Sunny even more! This book totally proved it! I loved this book!
October 12, 2019
Much less about the brother in here but a great glimpse at the feels of the teen years, friendships and being genuine with your likes and dislikes.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 592 reviews