After her father's death, Penny lives with her mother, Ellie, and grandparents, Me-Me and Pop-Pop.

She has her old dog Scarlett O'Hara to play with, and Penny also loves to spend time with her father's Italian family.

Once, he persuaded Penny to lie to her grandparents and go to the public pool against her strict mother's wishes.

It is a surprise when her mother allows Penny to work in her Uncle Ralphie's meat store.

Many years ago, only Dominic supported Penny's parents' marriage while the rest of his family wanted him marry an Italian girl.

She wakes up in the hospital, where in a dream she hears her mother accusing her uncle Dominic for her father's death.

Penny wants to reach it, but loses her balance and the bean slides off the table.

Karen Coats, writing for Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, states: "It's undeniably a nostalgic and highly personal piece, but it is readable and appealing nostalgia; Penny's family is quirky, big-hearted, and lively, and her adventures will have broad appeal for preadolescents, as well as bringing to light a largely neglected piece of American history.

"[2] Publishers Weekly writes, "The relaxed pace picks up after an accident lands Penny in the hospital and she overhears a rumor about her father.

Readers will enjoy observing Penny's growth, how she mediates a peace among her family members and offers a glimmer of heaven".

[3] Tricia Melgaard, who reviewed the book for School Library Journal, found the plot a bit weak, but said that warmth and humor abound.