Pennies from Burger Heaven by Marcy McKay

Last Updated on May 18, 2022 by ellen

My daughter was nice enough to share her cold with me, and I’ve been recovering the past few days by taking it easy. Today, I decided to spend a few hours on the couch with a book I was sent for review. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect with a title of “Pennies from Burger Heaven,” but I took a chance because it sounded interesting.

Pennies from Burger Heaven by Marcy McKay

Eleven-year-old Copper Daniels is homeless and alone. She spends her nights sleeping beneath the cemetery’s Warrior Angel statue for protection, and her days battling the mean streets of Remington, Texas, hell-bent on discovering what happened the night her Mama disappeared. While Copper and her rag-tag group of friends find danger at every corner, two horrors are certain: her Mama’s missing, and someone’s after Copper, too. In the tradition of The Lovely Bones and Room, Pennies from Burger Heaven tells a dark story through the eyes of a child. With wit and wisdom, Copper Daniels will steal your heart, then break it in two.

My thoughts:

Copper is eleven and lives with her mother wherever they can stay for the night. Most recently, it’s in the cemetery beneath the statue of an angel. One morning, Copper wakes up, and her mother isn’t there. She isn’t in any of the places that she and Copper normally go, and Copper cannot find her even with the help of her friends. As best she can, she tries to uncover clues to where her mother is. She learns that her mother stole something that someone wants back very badly, and they’ve threatened to kill Copper or sell her on the streets if she doesn’t get it back. Copper uses what little information she can get from the streets to try to find her mother or enough money to pay back the gang that wants to hurt her. In the end, she ends up reevaluating everything she thought she knew but barely escapes with her life.

I was hooked after the first two pages of the book. After the first chapter, any thought of putting the book down were forgotten. Pennies from Burger Heaven made me see the streets and the people who live there through Copper’s eyes – they eyes of a girl that were both innocent and street weary at the same time. I loved getting that glimpse into her world and was fascinated by the life that she seemed to accept as normal.  She had a real tenacity and strength that you wouldn’t expect from an eleven-year-old and the unique way she saw life and the people around her made this book an unforgettable story. The ending totally surprised me, and I never expected it to play out the way it did or for the story to leave me in tears.

Highly recommend you read this book now. Since it says that it’s Burger Heaven #1, I can only hope there will be another story soon.

ellen

Ellen is a mom of a 25-year-old son and 30-year-old daughter. She is Grandma to one adorable toddler. In what little spare time she has, she loves to read, watch movies, and check out the latest toys and games.