The Sun Will Come Out

I have long ago come to accept that there is exactly one thing I can control in the traditional publishing process – the quality of my work. Everything else is subject to the whims of random business people that I am not likely to ever meet. We all know of a gorgeous book that never got picked up due to agents’ and/or editors’ saying it wasn’t to their taste, the market was too competitive, or the ubiquitous catchall “I just didn’t fall in love.” Frustrations with that statement aside, it sometimes helps to remember that there is a whole lot of luck involved in this process.

While my colleagues who have gone the self or independent publishing route have more control over their covers and marketing, they too are subject to random market forces outside of their control. Books featuring pandemics published during 2020, for example, had no way to know they were about to enter the worst possible market. They rely on bookstagrammers and reviewers (like me!) for promo. Still, it leads authors to wonder how bookshelves might look if we weren’t so reliant on the taste of a handful of people. Perhaps it would be worse than the zombie apocalypse with shelves and shelves of unreadable work. But I like to think we might be pleasantly surprised to see books that were told they had no market in fact thriving and finding their readers.

I’ve read and reviewed several books by Joanne Levy before so when I saw a copy of The Sun Will Come Out, her contemporary MG about a girl named Bea heading off to summer camp sans her best friend, I was intrigued enough to pick it up. The cover is straight up gorgeous (a factor outside of many author’s control), and like many Jews I have fond memories of summer camp.

The camp in the book was quite different from my own, but there were still recognizable features that brought home the nostalgia – the treachery of shared showers, mystery night activities, a musical production, and of course bunk-mates that we could do without. In the case of Bea Gelman, there is also a wicked case of urticaria that causes some embarrassment, especially as two of her bunk-mates relentlessly tease her about it. Luckily Bea has made some good friends, but when a crush goes awry she finds herself hiding out in the nurses office. There she meets Harry, a boy with significant medical challenges.

I’m going to leave aside the discussion of hives and urticaria treatment because I am fairly certain that I am the only one interested in that, and instead say that I found the characters likeable and fun. Bea’s closest friend is actually visiting from overseas because her Jewish mother wanted her to meet more Jewish kids than she can at home. She has many important lessons to teach Bea, whose best friend abandoned her in order to go to horse camp which Bea could not afford. In addition, Harry has some significant insights into standing up for oneself even when things are hard. Bea helps him with his courage and he does the same for her. The trio are not overly maudlin and the book does not fall into the trap of sick lit where everything is all about trauma. This is about three kids figuring out how to deal with bullies, friendships, crushes, and life challenges as they grow up.

Note for the parents – there is a significant amount of crushing and one off page kiss. If your kid isn’t yet up to that, save this one for a few years down the road.

What I found most surprising was the afterword in which the author states that this book, which I found extremely relatable, was trunked due to never finding a home. I can CERTAINLY relate to having a trunk story, or twelve lolsob, so I was curious how it came to be in my hands and not gathering dust in the cloud. Turns out my agent is correct when she tells me we do not declare well written books dead, we simply wait for new markets to open up. She usually is right about everything, so this should not be coming as a shock to anyone. In the case of The Sun Will Come Out, when the PJ Library Our Way program opened up and was on the look out for MG books with Jewish themes this book fit the bill. With that support it was able to make its way into the world.

I am not knowledgeable enough about that program to comment on it or its book selections. I would, however, like to comment on the fact that a Jewish themed book couldn’t find a home until a Jewish themed organization came looking to support it. I often wonder how many Jewish books we are missing out on because publishers “already have a Jewish book” in their catalogue for the season or don’t think the market is big enough as they fear non-Jews will not relate. What would happen if an organization provided similar support for Jewish YA books as is being provided for these Jewish MG’s? It’s certainly something to think about.

For all the writers and books that haven’t found their homes yet, maybe take a lesson from both Bea and Joanne Levy. Don’t let one or two people’s opinions stand in your way when it comes to doing things that you love. Keep on the lookout for new opportunities for that trunked story. Most of all, try to make a few good friends on the journey.

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