Mission Hiller pens children’s book

Following the axiom that writers write what they know about, Mission Hill resident Jennifer Mann recently penned a children’s book about two sisters called “Sunny Sweet Is So Not Sorry.”

And Mann knows sisterhood, as she was one of four sisters growing up in New Jersey.

“The relationship is unique,” Mann said about the bond between sisters. “It brings out the best and worst in us,” noting that her sisters are the only people she has ever hit in her life.

“Sunny Sweet Is So Not Story,” which is the first of four books in the “Sunny Sweet” series, is about 6-year-old Sunny, who Mann describes as an evil genius, and her 11-year-old sister Marsha. Sunny glues plastic flowers to Marsha’s hair while she is sleeping and the two spend a day filled with adventures attempting to get them out.

Mann said she hopes that children who read the book “have a lot of fun,” “laugh” and “see themselves in it.”

The book is Mann’s first and has launched her career as a full-time writer. She previously worked as a financial analyst for 18 years. How that came about is a story in and of itself.

Mann grew up in an Italian neighborhood in a small town in New Jersey. Her mother always stressed the importance of going to college, but Mann never really thought about her major. Mann eventually picked art history, but was shocked to learn in class she was the only student to have never visited a museum. Mann said she got “scared” and retreated to the safety of an economics major.

“It was a silly thing to do,” she said.

One day when she was 33 years old, she was telling a story to her daughter and niece when someone told her she should write it down. That led to the story “The Cleanest Pig,” which was published in the “Highlights for Children” magazine in 2007, and sparked her journey to become a full-time writer.

“Sunny Sweet Is So Not Sorry” was published in October by Bloomsbury USA Children’s. For more information about Mann or to purchase the book, visit jenniferannmann.com.