Full review is on my new blog!

“My baking skills could use some work . . . But I also have jam, and jam fixes everything.”

The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones by Daven McQueen really caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting to love it so much or get so attached to Ethan and Juniper.

As the description says, this is set in 1950’s rural Alabama which paints a pretty distinct mental picture right off the bat. Ethan Harper is the main character, he’s 14 and was sent to Alabama for the summer by his father for getting into a fight back home in Arcadia, Washington. Ethan faced an incredibly boring summer in the Deep South until whirlwind Juniper “Starfish” Jones blows through his uncle’s malt shop. Juniper is heartwarming to read about and constantly brought a smile to my face. She loves sunflowers, riding her bike as fast as humanly possible, root beer floats and the Fourth of July.

I absolutely loved the friendship that developed between Juniper and Ethan and the bond that formed from being the two town outcasts. Ethan’s struggles were realistic and heart wrenching. He was constantly having to correct those around him and I can only imagine how exhausting that became.

“So much sunshine here in the summer, but God knows this town could use a little light.”

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the Publisher for an e-arc!