Author: Chad Morris & Shelly Brown
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Star Girl by Jerry Spinelli
That Girl Lucy Moon by Amy Timberlake
Rating:
.JPG)
Summary (provided by publisher): Eleven-year-old Juniper Berry lives in a cabin with her family deep in the wild woods. Living off the grid is usually exciting, like the time she chased off three growling raccoons with a tree branch and some acorns, or when she thought she glimpsed the legendary Bigfoot. But her happy life in the wild ends abruptly when her younger brother gets sick, and the family moves to the city to be closer to the hospital.
Juniper and her older sister are sent to live with cousins they hardly know and attend a public school for the first time, which is harder to navigate than the wild woods ever were. Juniper feels like a wolf cub separated from her pack.
When Juniper notices that her cousin, Alayna, is being bullied by so-called friends, she’s ready to fight back like the wild geese do when protecting their goslings, but her cousin tells her to stay out of it; she doesn’t want Juniper making things worse.
As the hospital bills for her brother start piling up, Juniper knows they’ll need to be paid before the family can go back to the woods, so she decides to make enough money to help out. With Alayna’s support, Juniper starts posting videos filled with her wisdom from the woods, hoping to get a following. But what if it doesn’t work? What if the bills never get paid? Not going home to the wild is Juniper’s worst nightmare. But while she’s stuck in the city, she might as well make the most of it, like sticking up for her cousin, for starters.
My opinion: At face value, this is a pretty standard fish-out-of-water story. Juniper is used to a very specific way of life and doesn't fit in to regular society. The more she stands out, the more it drives a wedge between her and her cousin. They don't understand each other. These are basic elements of many middle grade books. It invites discussion about what it means to fit in, about individuality and conformity. What sets this one apart is it's exploration of the driving force behind isolation. It doesn't just tell us that Juniper's family lives in the woods, it looks at why they isolate. It doesn't just tell us that Juniper doesn't fit in because she's never had a peer group. It looks at why she never attempts to connect with her new peers. While there are some moments that strain believability, overall this is a solid read that could spark discussion with a middle grade group.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
No comments:
Post a Comment