Juniper Berry

I am not a scary book reader.  I'm not fond of horror - I just don't want to imagine those scenes.  I have a big imagination, so if I read something scary, I tend to remember it and think about it again at the most inopportune moments.  Like when it's dark, late at night, and I hear a strange noise (gulp!).  That's part of why this book is so refreshing - it is creepy and scary, but it's nothing middle schoolers can't handle.  In fact, some of the creepiness comes from how ordinary Juniper's life seems from the outside.

Juniper Berry is 11 years old, and she has famous parents.  They are both famous actors, and when she was young, they were able to leave their work behind when they came home.  The Berrys had Juniper as the focus of their lives.  Lately, though, her parents are distracted, acting like she's not even in the room.  The nicest thing they say to her is "Go away."  The Berrys worry about not being famous enough, they panic over the roles being offered to others, they fret over their performances and their lines.  Juniper knows something is not right.  But their eyes tell her the truth - they are flat, empty, and emotionless.

Since Juniper's parents became so famous, Juniper has become more and more isolated.  She was already homeschooled, locked behind the gates of the home where fans flock all day.  So when she sees a boy wandering the woods behind their house, she runs to meet him.  Giles lives nearby, and he is worried about his parents as well.  They are famous in the music world, and suddenly things are not right with his family either.  The biggest giveaway is their eyes.  Giles has followed them in the dead of night to a specific tree on the Berrys' property.  And Juniper has noticed something about that particular tree, too - a raven who perches there constantly - the only one in the area.
Kozlowsky does an amazing job of ratcheting up the tension and suspense without making the book too frightening.  There are a couple of really yucky scenes, but most of the terror in this book comes from fear, not gore.  Kozlowsky has created a combination of adrenaline ride and thoughtful commentary on today's society.  I believe the ideas behind the book will stick in readers' heads much longer than the fear.

This is the author's first novel, and one of his gifts is description.  And the descriptions he creates are unusual, yet give you an immediate picture.  He describes Mrs. Berry this way "Her torso was also long and seemed to bend like warm rubber..." (p. 11).  And Juniper longs to touch Giles' wet hair, and when she does, it feels like "thick strands of yarn, or, Juniper preferred, waterlogged caterpillars." (p. 29).  Both descriptions are quirky but strong - you can see Mrs. Berry bending, you can feel Giles' hair as Juniper does.  These descriptions really heighten the tone of this novel, making it feel creepier and creepier.

You may have already guessed that Juniper and Giles' parents are in trouble, and maybe even that it has something to do with the fact that they are all famous.  I don't want to give away too much and spoil your experience of this novel, but I'll say that Kozlowsky does an excellent job of looking at the price of fame in a way that young readers will understand.  Juniper's parents are seen constantly evaluating their fame.  "'Juniper, dear, you go to all those websites, those gossip pages, posting boards.  Have they been mentioning me?'" (p.11)  Both Juniper's father and mother worry their best days are behind them.  They feel old, not attractive, not successful, even though people are constantly hounding them (even Juniper's tutor scours the house for the latest Berry gossip).  But it is never enough for them.

One of the things I find most interesting about this book is the parent-child dynamic.  In most teen books and many books for middle schoolers, the parents are absent in order to allow the younger characters to act without parental influence.  But in this book, Juniper's parents are present, physically there in front of her.  And yet she is still absolutely alone, horribly neglected.  Her biggest desire is to have her parents back with her, to continue to make that connection with them.  Where many books show characters who aren't connected to their parents  (separating from families as part of the coming of age process), Juniper and Giles both desperately need their parents.  Juniper particularly is a typical 11 year old - sometimes brave and strong enough to act decisively on her own, more often still longing for her parents' touch.  It is a sad consequence of her parents' actions.

I hope readers will take the message her to heart - all of the parents have enormous aspirations, and gave up things to gain shortcuts to fame and stardom.  While they do work at their crafts, it comes much more easily now.  I think Kozlowsky does a great job of couching this message in an adventure.  Students will read on to see what happens to Juniper and Giles, but I hope they will take away the idea that things that come so easily might not be reality.  I think that idea gives the terror substance - what would the reader do to achieve their own dreams?  Read it, think about it, and let me know.  I hope this story of terror and temptation doesn't come true for you.

Juniper Berry.  M.P. Kozlowsky.  Walden Pond Press: HarperCollins, 2011.

borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library

The Romeo and Juliet Code

Maybe you haven’t noticed it, but I do not really like historical fiction.  Go ahead and flip back through my blog posts if you like; I’ll wait here.  See?  These are the books that I like best,  and while there are a couple of picture books with historical themes, there is no typical historical fiction.  And I’m really uninterested in reading historical fiction about World War II – I’ve read plenty, and unless I’ve heard enough buzz, I just won’t make the effort.  So you know that if I’m recommending historical fiction about World War II to you, it has to be pretty good.

Felicity arrives in Boothbay, Maine in May of 1941.  Her mother, Winnie, and her father, Danny, stay long enough to say goodbye, then leave Felicity to get to know her father’s family alone.  They are on their way back to London, where their work is, and leaving Felicity in the United States, where they believe she will be safe.  Britain has already been in the war for some time, so Felicity has grown used to deprivation, bombings, and dark, cold nights without electricity.  She arrives in Maine to find a family she’s never met, a seaside house that no one ever visits, and more secrets than even she can untangle.

Felicity is eleven years old, and her aunt Miami calls her an “odd duck”.  She is grown-up enough to have never called her mother and father anything but their first names (she often refers to them as “my Winnie” or “my Danny”) but still young enough to carry around a stuffed bear, Wink.  She is old enough to stay by herself late into the night in London when her parents are working, but young enough not to wonder why they are always so late, need language coaches for their jobs, or have abandoned her in Maine without even a forwarding address.

But it is obvious that Winnie and Danny are not the only people keeping secrets from Felicity.  Felicity’s uncle, Gideon, was visibly angry with Danny when they left Felicity, and neither Uncle Gideon or Felicity’s grandmother (called The Gram) will talk to Winnie.  Felicity doesn’t intend to eavesdrop , but she hears Uncle Gideon and The Gram talking about someone who is sick, hidden away somewhere in the house, named Captain Derek.  And Uncle Gideon often tries to connect with Felicity, even though she is sure she should stay angry with him after his behavior with Winnie and Danny.

I’m not going to ruin any of the mysteries  in this book by talking about them here.  There are many mysteries contained within these pages.  This story is told through Felicity’s point of view, and it is extremely limited at first.  Felicity believes what she is told, even when it doesn’t fit with what she has observed or overheard.  It takes a long time for her curiosity to kick in, and for her to start to wonder what is really going on in her family, both in Maine and abroad.  But once her curiosity begins, Felicity begins to investigate, to question and to rethin k what she’s seen and heard in the past.

I want to say something about the combination of the title and the cover.  The title refers to a code that Felicity must solve, not necessarily something romantic or tragic.  I think that the entangled boy/girl feet on the cover and the names Romeo and Juliet might make young readers believe there is more romance inside than there actually is.  There is no kissing, hand-holding or even entangled legs within – while Felicity does like someone, it is mostly unrequited, and I think the cover’s misconception might steer readers away who might otherwise have been attracted to its mystery, adventure and historical fiction combination.

I wonder if there are going to be inevitable comparisons to last year’s Newbery-winning Moon Over Manifest.  Both books include family secrets, and combine a mystery with historical fiction.  However, I feel that this book is much stronger than Moon Over Manifest.  I couldn’t get invested in the dual storyline of Manifest.  Here, within two chapters, I had put off all my naptime plans to sit down and finish this novel.  Felicity’s family is full of entertaining quirks which make them warm and exciting to be around.  While Felicity does look back, it is handled in conventional flashbacks to her time in Britain, and not in the more unwieldy dual storylines.  It helps Felicity piece together the solutions to her mysteries as she looks back and remembers details that seemed unimportant at the time.

One other thing I love about this book is that it isn’t tied up in a neat little bow at the end.  I actually liked that Felicity’s parents hadn’t come for her yet by the end of the novel, and in fact much of the mystery surrounding them hasn’t been solved.  But Felicity is in a safe, welcome place and that makes the ending happy still.  I hope this post has made you want to seek out this book and investigate its mysteries for yourself.  It’s well worth it.  Then comment here and let me know what you thought.

The Romeo and Juliet Code.  Phoebe Stone.  Arthur A. Levine Books: Scholastic, 2011.

Borrowed from Lewis & Clark library

Alice in Rapture, Sort Of

“Somehow life seemed to be rushing ahead faster than I was ready for.  I’d barely get comfortable with one thing, and then – bam!- something new was happening.” (p. 122-3) 

This quote, to me, is the core of the appeal of the Alice series.  Don’t we all feel like this?  It serves to remind us adults that we aren’t the only ones who feel like life is always changing.  And it helps comfort girls who feel like they are the only ones among their group of friends who aren’t ready to have things change.

If you’re a regular follower of my blog, you know that the character of Alice McKinley has really struck a chord with me since the first book I read in this series many years ago.  I had read various books in the series over the years, but I decided I wanted to start Alice’s journey from the beginning of her preteen years.  I’ve already started blogging about the series here, hereand here.

This is the summer between Alice’s 6^th and 7^th grade years, and at the beginning, Alice feels that it is going to be a great summer.  She has two really great friends, Pamela and Elizabeth, and a boyfriend, Patrick.  Pamela’s cousin from New Jersey told Pamela that they need to start junior high with boyfriends in order to be accepted, so this becomes “The Summer of the First Boyfriend” according to Alice’s father.

And having a boyfriend requires a whole new set of social skills for the girls.  Since Alice has had all year to grow her friendship with the other girls, Naylor uses this novel to help Alice find her way with Patrick.  These are still young girls, so the most that goes on here is French kissing.  But each girl has a boyfriend during this summer, and they all make different relationship decisions.  Patrick and Alice see each other almost every day, mostly spending time on her front porch talking and holding hands.  Elizabeth believe that she shouldn’t even kiss a boy (because her parents have told her she is not allowed to date) and Pamela’s mother has threatened to cut off Pamela’s extremely long hair if she dates anyone.  Pamela decides to risk her mother’s anger and keep her boyfriend, but Elizabeth’s boyfriend breaks up with her when she won’t kiss him.

Patrick and Alice do lots of things together, including a supervised vacation at the beach, a fancy date at the country club and lots of time spent hanging out with their group of friends.  In other words, this is an appropriate romance for young teens – there is no pressure to do anything uncomfortable at this point in the series, and the teens are having a good time together without getting into trouble.  And when Alice decides that she would rather not have a boyfriend at the beginning of school, they downgrade to “special friends” without too much fuss.

One of the biggest topics in this series is Alice’s mother, who died when Alice was five.  Alice is always evaluating her mother’s absence and her impact on Alice’s life.  There are some real bittersweet moments in this novel.  Alice discovers a box of her mom’s memorabilia in their attic while looking for some clothes.  This brings her closer to her mother as it triggers some of Alice own memories (she hasn’t remembered much about her mother previously).  It also helps Alice begin to know her mother as a woman and a mother.

However, as a motherless girl, there are times when Alice really feels left out.  In this book she begins to find that there are substitute mothers in her life – her Aunt Sally and cousin Carol, who give her advice on what to give Patrick for his birthday; a neighbor who happens to show up when Alice is home sick with the flu; some of her older brother’s girlfriends…Alice isn’t alone.  And in fact, she has many strong women in her life to help her.  She just has to know where to look.

This series is so rewarding.  Every time I dive into one, I read it within an afternoon.  They are comforting and also address the anxiety of change.  It is a feeling we can all relate to, and that’s part of the reason I keep coming back.

Alice in Rapture, Sort Of.  Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.  Atheneum, 1989.

Borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library