DNF @ 45%

God, I'm so sad I didn't love this as much as everyone else. I've been trying to get through it for several weeks now and I just can't seem to make any progress; it started out pretty well, but at some point it started to get way too slow-paced for my liking. Some scenes seemed to drag, and the conflict just didn't seem to be about to arise any time soon.

I'm specially disappointed because, as I said, I was actually enjoying it a lot at first. I really liked Ethan, the main character, and the racism and discrimination he experiences as the only Black boy in a small town in Alabama back in the 50s are still terribly relevant to what's happening and keeps happening in the world today. It's definitely an important story to tell. If there was one thing I would have loved to see is how his character grew and developed throughout the book, but obviously I can't say a lot about that since I didn't get to the end. I enjoyed his friendship with Juniper (who I also would have liked to know a little bit more about. She was such a dynamic character, but I feel like I didn't know a lot, or anything, about her). Sadly, I guess I didn't fall in love with them enough to keep going. But I'd definitely encourage anyone to give this one a try.

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following impartial and unbiased review:
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4*
Pros: Beautiful and touching portrait of life as a person of color in the southern states of USA during the 1950s. Depicts the segregation laws, racism, prejudice, harmful society and mentality that is often still found nowadays. Features a powerful and complex biracial male lead. Talks about the complacency, ignorance and overall disregard of white people, even those self-proclaimed "allies". Showcases the strength and love in friendship. Overall, both a heartbreaking and heartwarming story, that will make you cry, and give you strength to fight the next day.
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Cons: Altough extremely important, this whole book was focused in educating white people and correcting their behaviours, which is not the job nor role of a person of color. It also included the dreadful "white savior" trope.
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Trigger warning: KKK violence. Graphic racist attacks.

A beautiful and sometimes dark book about racism. Loved the writing and specially the friendship between Ethan and Juniper. I just love their friendship. I believe this should be read in schools.

4 out of 5.

I'm not crying, you're crying.
TW: racism, bullying, violence, prejudice, segregation, death

4.5
"When it comes to that word, people always know what they're saying."

Life in 1955 is a hard time to be anything but white. Life or death. Ethan feels the brunt of it when he goes to Alabama for the summer. Until he meets Juniper Jones, who breathes life into him.
This is a tale of sadness, racism, and what "despite the odds" really means.
This book was beautiful, the prose, the atmosphere, and the chemistry between Juniper and Ethan. It talks about the uncomfortable truths and conversations between racism and allyship.
I cried, so much. It was something that will stay with me for a while.

The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones

All the stars


Beautiful. Heartbreaking. I don’t even know what to say. I think this should be mandatory reading. It’s a reminder of how far we have come and how far we still our from getting it right. This is a story of family, of race, relationships and friendships. I don’t want to say to much because you just need to read it but it’s set in Alabama in 1955. Ethan is a biracial teenager who has been living in the north. His white father is sending him to his tiny hometown in Alabama to teach him a lesson about getting into
Fights. Hw learns really quickly that things in this small southern town are not like things in the north. He meats Juniper Jones. She is full of life and is very different from the rest of the town. They quickly become friends and help each other get thru the summer. I’m not going to lie, this is a hard read but it’s so worth it.

Just finished up The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones thanks to @netgalley. It was a beautiful story with so much heart, full of difficult but necessary lessons about what it was like to be a Black boy in rural Alabama in the 1950s, and what it was like to be an imperfect but dedicated white ally. Ethan’s inner turmoil was wonderfully conveyed, and I found myself angry at the injustices that he suffered; Juniper was larger-than-life, with a personality that jumped right off the page, and their relationship was so honest and genuine. There were a few events that seemed a bit to coincidental to be realistic—just a little too “neat”—but overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable & moving story. Did I cry? Definitely. (More than once.)

Juniper Jones is a breath of fresh air. Her character is loving life no matter how people in the small town treat her. She has a good heart and just wants a friend to accept her for who she is. That is the bond between Juniper and Ethan. Great lessons to be lessened by all who read this enjoyable story. Will definitely be recommending to my students!

This book was so good. I loved the characters and loved the story. I was bawling by the end. This story is YA- but I enjoyed it just as much as an adult. It’s a story everyone needs to read.

I'm not going to lie. This was not what I was expecting, It was a little too serious for my licking. I must not have really read the description (which I tend to do). The disappointment U felt had less to do with the book and more to do with me

This book ripped my heart out and tore it into little tiny pieces. It was so beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. Ethan, a mixed boy from Washington, is sent to a white town in Alabama after he got into some trouble at home. His parents are separated and his father sends him to spend the summer with his white aunt and uncle to teach him a lesson. Ethan meets Juniper Jones, the town's outcast girl who tells him they are going to have a great summer doing all sorts of fun, interesting things. She tries helping him deal with the immense amount of racism he is subjected to by members of the town, including Noah who is really the worst. Juniper and Ethan's friendship is incredibly beautiful and everyone deserves to have a friend like Juniper in their lives. Each character grows tremendously throughout the book and I'm so in love with the way Daven McQueen develops each character. I loved it so much, I'm at a loss for words. Just read it, you won't regret it.

Thank you SO much for this e-arc. I will be posting on my bookstagram as well as Amazon and Goodreads!

**Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for the eARC. All thoughts are my own.**

I just finished reading The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones and I am a mess of emotions right now! 💔❤️ Aah, such an amazing book, I cannot get over it. It was equally beautiful and heartbreaking.

I absolutely adored Ethan and Juniper, they are the sweetest! 😭 Their story takes place in 1955 when Ethan is forced to spend the summer with his aunt and uncle, but thankfully he meets Juniper in his first days and they immediately become friends.

While reading The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones I felt frustrated, angry, sad and so many emotions in between. It talks about racism, ignorance and prejudice and it's just so scary how so many of these issues are still part of every day life. However, this story also talks about love and friendship as well and how people can change if only they put their minds to it.

I highly recommend this book, it is a must read!!! 📚✨

This book tore through me like a hurricane, swept me off my feet and left me a raw, emotional wreck. I am absolutely blown away by this book. I devoured it in less than 24 hours. I sobbed, gasped and shouted loudly as I read this, witnessing racism and discrimation; but I also smiled and laughed, spell bound by this tale of an unlikely, yet unforgettable friendship.

Ethan was such a fantastic protagonist. Witnessing the way he was treated in such a deeply rooted racist society was just heartbreaking. Yet, so important to read about. Seeing him grapple and wrestle with his identity and the colour of his skin was just heart wrenching. He's such an endearing character and I came to care so much for him and was so glad that I was a part of his summer, along with Juniper.

Juniper Jones. What a whirlwind of a character. A wild, free and caring girl with fiery red hair and a fiery soul to match. Her spirit and zest for life was infectious and seemed to burst off the pages. Her passion and understanding nature really spoke to me. We should all be more like Juniper Jones. Bright, carefree and passionate. Willing to stand up for others whilst also willing to recognise our own failings. A loyal and kind hearted friend. I now want to write a list of activities for an invincible summer of my own.

Their friendship was everything. Both seen as different, misplaced and unwanted in town, they're brought together on a mission to fulfill Juniper's goal of having an invincible summer. Their friendship was wonderful. Invincible, in everything that they experienced and endured, to the very end.

This book dealt with race, racism and discrimination - topics that were relevant back when this book is set and sadly, still relevant as hell in today's world. This should be required reading for everyone - not just young adults - everyone. It's so much more than just a story - it's a lesson, something to learn from, understand (as much as we can) and strive to be better than. We are all people who should be treated equally no matter what.

The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones is a poignant tale of race, friendship, family and history. I implore you all to pick it up. I know I will reread this again some day. It will stay with me for a long time.

The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones by Daven McQueen touched me, inside, in my heart, deeply. It brought back memories spent in the southern small town of my childhood. Memories I had forgotten or chose to forget in the way you forget those memories that never really touched you personally. Memories of one friend that I was told I couldn't play with because nice little girls didn't. Memories of living in a town that was split down the middle, each race having their own section. I only wish I was as brave and as special as Juniper Jones with a heart bigger than the whole world and who didn't care that her best friend was not like her. This is a story of a friendship, of best friends and a summer in their lives. The summer they met and rose above the hate and prejudice of a small southern town. I don't believe you can read this and not feel. It just isn't possible!

This is an absolutely wonderful book. The kind that makes you feel every emotion the characters feel and care about their futures. It does not matter what genre you usually read, you need to read this book.

As a young man of mixed race in 1955's Alabama, Ethan confronts blatant racism for the first time. His struggles to understand how so many people justify their treatment of him will set the background for his joy when he meets Juniper Jones. Juniper Jones is one of those characters that everyone loves and remembers. Her joy for life and unselfish inclusion of Ethan into her adventures set an example that so many others should learn by.

This book gave me the same wonder and feelings as THE HELP. A story of life lived in spite of those who would make you feel less. This story is one I will share with everyone I know. You should too.

I LOVE THIS BOOK. As you start reading, you have the impression that it is just another coming of age story. It is so much more.

The character development between the two main characters is excellent. Juniper is a bright ray of sunshine, an adventurer and lover of all things living in a small town in Alabama. Ethan is biracial boy being raised by his white father. When Ethan is sent to Alabama to live with his aunt and uncle, he has to face racial prejudice for the first time.

It is easy to follow the story and get caught up in the lives of Juniper, Ethan and the small town.

The last time I cried this much for a book was with The Hearts Invisible Furies. This story is so beautifully written about a friendship between a biracial boy named Ethan and a free spirited girl named Juniper. Juniper has an idea to have the best summer ever and after meeting Ethan for the first time, decides that he will be her new best friend and they will experience this invincible summer together. Set in Alabama in the 1950’s, Ethan experiences racism in a way he never has never had while living in Washington.

A story about friendship, race and a summer that changes many lives, The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones is a book that I will recommend for ages to come!!

I really loved this book. I really enjoyed the friendship between the two characters and how they worked through their differences and assumptions about each other, as well as understanding the differences and experiences in each other’s lives during the Jim Crow era. This is a book that can help navigate the unruly waters of racism and how youth can learn acceptance and compassion for all.

I couldn't think of a more perfect time for this release. What a hard thing to read. It is important for young people to have access to stories like these in order to better understand history but to also reflect on race relations in the United States. This book was moving, meaningful, and the characters were rich an well developed. Amazing.

I had a hard time rating this book for the same reason I had a hard time rating Internment by Samira Ahmed, and The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels. Because on the one hand, McQueen is telling an extremely important story to a target audience that is young but still mature enough to hear it. 1950s Alabama was a cruel, terrible place to be as a black person, and The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones makes that extremely clear. It teaches important lessons about allyship and how to support and uplift those who face discrimination without making it about yourself. Ethan grows up rather quickly during the summer and it was interesting to watch those changes occur. His relationships with the white people in his life- Juniper, his aunt and uncle, his father- are well done and realistic, and over 60 years later, I know that there are probably black teenagers out there who can sadly still relate to the discrimination and hatred Ethan faces, and will feel empowered by the hints of revolution (referring, of course, to the Civil Rights Movement that was in its infancy during the summer of '55, when this book takes place) that are equally relevant now, given the current climate.

But. Here is where my comparison to Internment and The Prettiest Star comes in: much of my appreciation for the book came from the story that McQueen constructed. It was the execution– the prose, the pacing– that left what to be desired. Juniper felt as flat as such a dynamic character can feel; her entire personality is reduced to quirkiness, with the occasional moment of consideration towards the struggles Ethan faced daily and how she could change her own perspective and then work to change the minds of the people around her. Much of the story felt like it was happening to Ethan and Juniper, and he was reacting to everything with a delay. Juniper tells him to be angry, and he's angry, even though he was sullen about spending a summer in Alabama from page 1. I put down this book and forgot to pick it up again quite a few times, because I was so bored by the meandering language that never seemed to take us anywhere. Until it did, of course, and bluntly told us what to feel without considering that showing, not telling, makes for a more meaningful novel.

I did feel emotional during a couple moments, but the emotions came from the story being told, and were not enhanced in the slightest by McQueen's prose. You would have to be completely heartless not to feel something when the Klan comes to town and you know they're hunting a 15-year-old boy, but that was the only reason I felt that tension. The fact that it was Ethan specifically they were after didn't register, and that lack of feeling for the characters was ultimately why this book disappointed me. Five stars for the plotline McQueen has constructed; two for the execution.

And a final, somewhat tangential point which contains a spoiler: <spoiler>I found the exchange between Ethan and Abrams after Juniper's funeral to be offensive. Ethan is mourning the loss of his best friend, and the first thing Abrams says is about how Juniper was 'one of his best vendors'. There is a dangerous stereotype of Jews being greedy and obsessed with money, and while I assume McQueen meant this as a joke, it's still harmful and unnecessary. I have other grievances against Abrams as a character but I can let them slide.</spoiler>

I was genuinely excited to read this book. My instincts were right, and it grabbed me right from the get-go.

Ethan Harper, a biracial teenager, living with his white father, is sent to spend the summer with his aunt and uncle in small-town 1950’s Alabama after he is suspended from school for getting into a fight. As Ethan is confronted with a new reality - what it means to be Black in America, he meets Juniper Jones, who is white, carefree, and kind. She tries to help Ethan see beauty despite the ugliness of racism, and together they make an invincible summer.

The narration of the story, combined with the main character’s dialogue and thoughts are heart-warming and upsetting. The author did well at creating an unlikely friendship amidst the 1950s and the severe issues of racism. Daven McQueen managed to balance it, though. She still gave us a heartfelt story about friendship, trust, and loyalty amidst the grim and disgusting realities of the time.

The Authors note at the beginning of the book was well placed. Read it.

The seriousness of prejudice is not hidden away in the book. I should be clear about that. These moments are present in Ethan’s thoughts and experiences. At one point, he is running away from a potentially life-threatening event. It’s front and center in thought-provoking conversations with Ethan and Juniper, and defining loyalties. With Ethan and his loving black mother, who shares a whole new perspective with Ethan.

When I can hear a character’s voice in my head as I read, I know the author has nailed it, for me anyway. Each time Juniper Jones, aka. StarFish said, “Ethan Charlie Hawkins,” I smiled, and sometimes I welled up too. Not only was the rhythm perfect, but their imperfections were just as perfect.

Growing up is hard enough, right? Add the face of change, and it’s even harder. I envisioned Ethan’s facial expressions and felt his frustration, fears, and definitely his realizations. He was brave. They both were.

Ethan and Juniper also take on the adventures of tree climbing, painting, serious bike riding, and milkshake drinking to a new level. Their conversations were a reminder of how much we can learn from each other. It just takes two!

I’m so glad I read this book.

Thank you to the Author, Daven McQueen, for writing this book.
Thank you, NetGalley and the Publisher, for making it available.