Sunny Winslow is Dawn's best friend in California. Her mother is suffering (and eventually dies) from lung cancer, and her father works all the time in his bookstore to avoid his pain, so he doesn't pay much attention to her. Sunny's rebellious behavior and negative attitude towards her friends are the main sources of conflict throughout the series, though Sunny's diaries reveal that she's acting out to get the attention she desires from her parents. She runs away from home in her first diary. In her third diary, her mother dies, leading Sunny to finally reconcile with her friends.