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A review by jensreadinglife
The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones by Daven McQueen
4.0
Thank you NetGalley and Wattpad for a supplying a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. It's 1955 and Ethan Harper, a biracial boy, has been sent by his father from his home in the Pacific Northwest to rural Alabama to spend the summer with his white aunt and uncle. As the only Black person in town, it is clear from the get go that he is not welcome. He is wallowing in the misery of his long summer days until Juniper Jones comes into his uncle's malt shop one day and changes everything.
I finished this book over a week ago and I'm still thinking about it. It is joyful and painful and raw and tender - a little bit like how growing up feels. Daven McQueen has written a beautiful coming-of-age story that, even though it's set in 1955, feels as if it could just as well be happening today. I loved the friendship between Ethan and Juniper. I loved Juniper's free spirit but I loved even more that she was fallible. She tried to be a good friend to Ethan, was a good friend to him, but still couldn't truly understand the prejudice and racism that Ethan was experiencing. Throughout the entire book, you could feel the underlying tension of Ethan being the only Black person in a small, Southern town boiling under the surface until it bursts through in the final events of the novel. Over the course of one summer, Ethan's life is forever altered - for better and for worse.
I can't encourage people enough to read this book. Especially given the current events we are living through. Let Ethan and Juniper teach you a little bit about friendship and hope over the course of one invincible summer.
I finished this book over a week ago and I'm still thinking about it. It is joyful and painful and raw and tender - a little bit like how growing up feels. Daven McQueen has written a beautiful coming-of-age story that, even though it's set in 1955, feels as if it could just as well be happening today. I loved the friendship between Ethan and Juniper. I loved Juniper's free spirit but I loved even more that she was fallible. She tried to be a good friend to Ethan, was a good friend to him, but still couldn't truly understand the prejudice and racism that Ethan was experiencing. Throughout the entire book, you could feel the underlying tension of Ethan being the only Black person in a small, Southern town boiling under the surface until it bursts through in the final events of the novel. Over the course of one summer, Ethan's life is forever altered - for better and for worse.
I can't encourage people enough to read this book. Especially given the current events we are living through. Let Ethan and Juniper teach you a little bit about friendship and hope over the course of one invincible summer.