From the publisher:
There are some friends you never forget.
It’s the summer of 1955. For Ethan Harper, a biracial kid raised mostly by his White father, race has always been a distant conversation. When he’s sent to spend the summer with his aunt and uncle in small-town Alabama, his blackness is suddenly front and center, and no one is shy about making it known he’s not welcome there. Enter Juniper Jones. The town’s resident oddball and free spirit, she’s everything the townspeople aren’t-open, kind, and accepting.
Armed with two bikes and an unlimited supply of root beer floats, Ethan and Juniper set out to find their place in a town that’s bent on rejecting them. As Ethan is confronted for the first time by what it means to be Black in America, Juniper tries to help him see the beauty in even the ugliest reality, and that even the darkest days can give rise to an invincible summer….
REVIEW
Half-Truths is coming out in April, 2025, but I still learn from reading middle grade/young adult historical fiction about the pre-civil rights period. When The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones by Daven McQueen, popped up in a search for audiobooks, I snagged it from my local library. It takes place in 1955, five years after Half-Truths. Although I have read many books about racism and the Jim Crow South, I still found this eye-opening portrayal of racism in rural Alabama to be heart-wrenching.
The book opens with Ethan Harper’s white father dropping him off at his sister’s home in Ellison, Alabama. Mr. Harper’s goal: to discipline Ethan for a school incident and to teach his son what it means to be Black. Coming from the Northwest, Ethan had friends of both colors. Suddenly he is thrust into a town which ostracizes and sees him as a threat. Throughout the summer Ethan not only has conflicts with the townspeople, his aunt and uncle, but he also harbors deep anger towards his father who didn’t seem to care about shoving him into such a difficult situation. “He locked his anger deep inside in the space between his ribs. He was afraid to see what it would look like if he let it out.”
In the middle of this nearly impossible situation, Ethan meets Juniper Jones. He is mystified by her endless optimism, free-spirited love for adventures, and why a white girl would befriend a brown-skinned boy. Eventually, her smiles and plans for an invincible summer win him over. Despite many bumps in the road, the two learn to trust one another with their deepest secrets and fears–including Juniper’s family’s mental health issues. Ethan comes to see June as “a balloon spiraling endlessly into the sky.” The story showcases honest conversations between two young people who feel like misfits but who end up challenging the town’s deep prejudices.
There were so many wonderful lines in this book, but this one stood out to me. Ethan thinks, “To have a friend like Juniper Jones… to be that friend who only wants the best for you…”
In Conclusion
In the end, Ethan is an old man returning to Ellison, Alabama. He remembers June as a young woman who “had made it all seem effortlessly possible” and finds a missing puzzle piece that completes his understanding of his invincible summer.
Read this book for empathy. Read it for a deep characterization. And read it for a fuller appreciation of the effects of mental illness and racial prejudice on everyone touched by them. I think it would be a great supplementary novel in 8th-10 grade classrooms that are studying civil rights and Jim Crow.
This deep friendship story is recommended for readers from 12-16 but because of it’s grahpic portrayal of racism, I think middle-grade readers should be mature to read it. The narrator, Janina Edwards, did an outstanding job of giving voice to all of the characters.
Giveaway
Tantor Audio is providing an audio giveaway of this book. Please leave a comment by July 10 in order to enter. Since this is a digital download, you don’t have to be a U.S. resident to enter.
This book will be a part of Greg Pattridge’s Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday blog. Check out all the other books he features there.
This sounds like an incredible book!
It is, Cathy! Your name starts the list–even as I’m working on posting Lori’s review of the Little Red Chair for Monday!
That book sounds like a great friendship/historical book!
IT is, Marci. Your name goes on the list!
Thanks for the review. Would love to listen to this one!
You
You would love this book, Joyce! Thanks for your comment.
I’ll have to take a look at this. Thanks for the recommendation.
thank you for commenting. I’ll add your name to the giveaway list!
Sounds a great book, with a heart-warming friendship in a troubled period. Would complement Half-Truths nicely, I think? Thanks for the recommendation!
I loved this book when it came out. Great characters set in a time period we don’t see very often in middle grade. Thanks for your enticing review. I’ll pass on the giveaway since I’ve already enjoyed this one,
Thanks Greg. OBviously I agree!
This sounds like a powerful story. I’m starting to listen to more audiobooks,and this sounds like one I’d like. Thanks.
You’re in Natalie. I’m glad for a giveaway you can enter!
Sounds like an inspirational read. I’ll never forget my first trip into the deep rural south as a naive sheltered boy who grew up in the Dakotas. I had no idea what prejudice and hate were until then.
Thanks for commenting, Pete. I’ll add your name. If this topic interests you, you can can search my blog for similar books.
I am too late for the giveaway, but thanks for sharing your review of this book. I read Maya Angelou’s memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, this year for the first time, and it made me realize how little literary work of that time period I’ve really read. Hope you have a great week!
Thank you, Kasey. I hope you get a chance to read this book. It’s terrific!
This sounds really interesting. I’ve been listening to a few more audio books lately, and am finding that I enjoy them. I’ll look for this one. Thanks for the review.
I think you’ll like it, Rosi. Thanks for your comment.