Renée Watson - Ways to Make Sunshine

By Rene Watson

FOR YOUNGER READERS

Ways to Make Sunshine

Some Places More Than Others

FOR OLDER READERS

Piecing Me Together

What Momma Left Me

This Side of Home

Watch Us Rise (with Ellen Hagan)

BLOOMSBURY CHILDRENS BOOKS

Bloomsbury Publishing Inc., part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018

This electronic edition published in 2020 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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First published in the United States of America in April 2020
by Bloomsbury Childrens Books

Text copyright 2020 by Rene Watson
Interior art 2020 by Nina Mata

All rights reserved
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Watson, Renee, author.

Title: Ways to make sunshine /by Renee Watson.

Description: [New York] : Bloomsbury Childrens Books, 2020.

Summary: The Hart family of Portland, Oregon, faces many setbacks after Ryans father loses his job, but no matter what, Ryan tries to bring sunshine to her loved ones.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019046159 (print) LCCN 2019046160 (e-book)

ISBN: 978-1-5476-0056-4 (HB)
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0665-8 (PB)
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0057-1 (eBook)

Subjects: CYAC: Family lifeOregonPortlandFiction. | SchoolsFiction. | African AmericansFiction. | Portland (Or.)Fiction.

Classification: LCC PZ7.1.S47 Way 2020 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.S47 (e-book) | DDC [Fic]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046159

LC e-book record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046160

ISBN: 978-1-5476-0579-8 (exclusive edition)

Book design by Danielle Ceccolini

To find out more about our authors and their books please visit www.bloomsbury.com where you will find extracts, author interviews and details of forthcoming events, and to be the first to hear about latest releases and special offers, sign up for our newsletters.

For my goddaughter, Ryan Hart. You are my sunshine.

Contents

The Girl Who Could Be King

I am a girl with a name that a lot of boys have. So when the substitute teacher takes roll and calls out, Ryan? she looks surprised when I answer. I wish Ms. Colby were here. Ms. Colby doesnt even need to take roll anymore because it is the first day of March and shes been teaching us for six months, so she can tell who is here and who is not just by looking across the room. Ms. Colby always starts the day off with our Thumbs-Up/Thumbs-Down/Somewhere-in-the -Middle Check-In. This substitute teacher doesnt do any of that and so I dont get to show my thumbs-up for making perfect scrambled eggs and toast this morning.

I wonder why Ms. Colby didnt leave a note for the sub with a list of dos and donts. Like dont call DeVont, DeVontcall him D. And dont look so shocked when a girl raises her hand when you call out for Ryan.

Here, I say.

Ryan Hart? the substitute says. She looks at me like she is not sure I am who I say I am.

Yes. My name is Ryan.

Oh, she says, pushing up her too-big glasses.

Brandon, the boy sitting next to me, says, She has a boys name.

I roll my eyes at him because no one is talking to him and he needs to mind his own business. I do not have a boys name. I have my name. My name is Ryan and Ryan means king and that means I am a leader

Okay, ah, please settle down. Settle down, the substitute teacher says, mostly to me and not to Brandon, who thinks he knows it all. Okay, Ryan Hart is here, she says to herself.

Then Brandon whispers, And she spells her last name wrong. He laughs at his corny joke.

I do not! My name is Ryan Hart and its not heart like the muscle, its H-A-R-T as in... as in my last name.

The substitute teacher walks over to my desk and says, I need you to keep your voice down.

I need Brandon to leave me alone! I roll my eyes at Brandon again, extra roll this time, but then I remember what Mom always tells me, how she named me Ryan because she wanted me to feel powerful, to remember that I am a leader every time someone calls my name. Dad is always telling me our people come from royalty, that my ancestors lived in Africa and were kings and queens and inventors and hard workers. Mom tells me their strength is running through my veins.

I sit up straight, ignore Brandon, and try to be the leader I am supposed to be.

Mom and Dad tell me I will keep growing into my name. They say it to my brother, too. Be who we named you to be, they tell him whenever he is pulling my ponytail or grabbing food off my plate when Im not looking.

My brothers name is Raymond. We call him Ray. His name means protector and Dad says he should be keeping me, his little sister, safe. But mostly he is just bossy and nosy and sometimes he treats me like I am a glass thing that could break. He is always telling me you cant do this and you shouldnt be so that. Maybe because I am two years younger than him, maybe because I am a girl. Maybe because he doesnt know the meaning of my name, how tough I really am.

Maybe he doesnt realize I can do and be anything.

When its time to go outside for recess, Brandon, Marcus, and the boy with glasses who I never talk to are splashing around in the puddles and stomping in mud. Then they race each other up the monkey bars. I walk over to join in on the climbing but before I can get there, the substitute teacher says to me, Why dont you go over there, sweetheart? and points to the swings and slide.

Id rather stay here, pretending to climb a mountain, so I say, No, thank you, and keep walking to the monkey bars. The substitute teacher follows me and thats when I realize that it wasnt a suggestion or question. It was a demand.

I really think itll be safer if you stay off the monkey bars. Besides, you and Brandon might need a break from each other.

Ill stay out of Brandons way, I say. And I dont think its dangerous. I play on them all the time. I bet I can even climb faster than those boys.