Prepare for one invincible summer season. Try The Invincible Summer time of Juniper Jones by Daven McQueen, out June 2020, and browse the unique excerpt beneath!
It’s the summer season of 1955. For Ethan Harper, a biracial child raised principally by his white father, race has at all times been a distant dialog. When he’s despatched to spend the summer season together with his aunt and uncle in small-town Alabama, his Blackness is immediately entrance and middle, and nobody is shy about making it identified he’s not welcome there. Aside from Juniper Jones. The city’s resident oddball and free spirit, she’s all the things the townspeople aren’t―open, type, and filled with acceptance.
Armed with two bikes and a vast provide of root beer floats, Ethan and Juniper got down to discover their place in a city that’s bent on rejecting them. As Ethan is confronted for the primary time by what it means to be Black in America, Juniper tries to assist him see the sweetness in even the ugliest actuality, and that even the darkest days may give rise to an invincible summer season.
Daven McQueen’s Juniper Jones is a personality for all ages on this candy coming of age story set in 1950s Alabama.
It was on the second Thursday of June, a couple of days since he’d first set foot in Ellison, that Ethan Harper first met Juniper Jones. He was sprucing the already spotless countertop, his eyes educated on the shiny pages of final month’s Crimefighters situation, when the bell above the door let loose a jingle. It took a second for his thoughts, misplaced within the motion, to register the arrival of a buyer. By the point he realized that somebody had come inside, she was already on the counter and sticking a freckled hand in entrance of his face.
“Hey,” she mentioned, her voice like wind chimes.
Class ID: 468
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Ethan seemed up rapidly, his mouth hanging open and his arm nonetheless reaching out to wipe at an invisible smudge. He dropped his rag, cleared his throat, and stared on the woman who was now sitting calmly on the stool throughout from him, spinning herself in a sluggish circle. A volcano of vibrant orange hair erupted from her head and spilled down her again in free, messy curls. Beneath the tough malt store lights, she was luminescent.
“I—” He licked his lips and tried once more. “Hello.”
She swung again to face him, a large, crooked-toothed grin splitting the galaxy of freckles on her cheeks. “Hello, there,” she mentioned, extending her hand once more. Ethan shook it gently. “My identify is Juniper Jones, however you may name me June, Junie, or Starfish. Or Juniper, I assume. Or JJ. However actually, I choose Starfish.”
Her accent was only a quiet trace lingering on the perimeters of her phrases, and her sky-blue eyes by no means as soon as strayed from his face. He fought the urge to take a step again.
“By gosh, you’re positive quiet.” She snorted. “What’s your identify? Don’t make me pry it out of you.”
“Uh, I’m Ethan Harper,” he mumbled.
“That’s it?” Juniper cried. “No nicknames, no thrilling alias?”
“I—my center identify is Charlie?” Ethan shook his head. “Hear, Juniper, it’s good to satisfy you. Can I get you some- factor?”
“Juniper once more.” She shook her head. “I’ve been attempting to persuade somebody to name me Starfish. It’s catchy, don’t you suppose? Anyway, Ethan Charlie Harper, I’ll have a root beer float, please.”
“Fifteen cents,” Ethan mentioned, however her cash had been already sliding throughout the counter. As he put them within the register, he felt her watching him.
“You’re new,” she mentioned, barely frowning as he moved towards the soda fountain. “I don’t suppose I’ve ever seen you earlier than. And you realize, that’s fairly uncommon in Ellison. I most likely know everybody on this entire city. We might stroll down the road, and I might inform you, ‘That’s Betty, that’s Stu and Laura, these are the Shaefer twins.’ Guess you’re not from right here, huh?”
By the point Juniper completed her speech, Ethan had spent a lot power listening that he might hardly handle a response. He compelled himself to nod. “My uncle owns this store,” he murmured. “I’m right here for the summer season.”
“Mr. Shay is your uncle? I by no means would’ve guessed. Y’all simply don’t look the identical, is all.”
Ethan studied the darkish pores and skin of his fingers however mentioned nothing.
“Not that I imply something by that, you realize,” Juniper went on. “Some people right here suppose everybody ought to keep on with their sides, you realize, white people and coloured people, so in fact they had been actual frosted final yr when that college in Topeka acquired all blended up once more, the way in which it shoulda been within the first place. Anyway, I assumed it was ridiculous that they had been so rattled as a result of there isn’t a single Negro inside twenty miles of this city. And Lord is aware of in the event that they tried to power that right here, half this city can be lined up in entrance of the school- home to cease it. Whoa, cautious there!”
With out realizing it, Ethan had knocked an elbow in opposition to Juniper’s root beer float, sending darkish soda sloshing over the sting of the glass. His eyes had been fastened on her face, and his coronary heart was hammering. The chilly stares of the townspeople resurfaced in his reminiscence. He imagined all of them lining up in entrance of the malt store throughout his shift, murmuring about how he didn’t belong, forcing their approach inside, and smother- ing him with their livid gazes.
“Shoot, sorry.” Ethan shook his head to clear the picture and reached for the rag.
“No worries.” Juniper flashed one other smile. “You recognize, one time once I acquired a float right here—”
Ethan tuned her out as he cleaned up the spill, letting her rattle on uninterrupted. Ideas of being cornered by the townspeople nonetheless lingered in his thoughts, however Juniper clearly didn’t discover. She solely paused her chatting to take sips of her drink.
“So, why are you right here in Ellison? Is Mr. Shay your solely uncle? Are your mother and father on trip? Do you prefer it right here? Are you going to remain for the autumn? It’s actual stunning within the fall.”
She watched him with doe-like eyes, grinning expectantly. Ethan sighed. “My dad despatched me right here for the summer season, however I can’t wait to separate. No offense, Juniper, or Starfish, or what- ever, however this place is a killjoy.”
Juniper gasped loudly and immediately, startling Ethan right into a stumble. When he righted himself, her hand was slapped throughout her mouth in disbelief. “Ethan Harper!” she scolded. “Clearly, you haven’t skilled the wonders Ellison has to supply. It could be small, nevertheless it’s an actual gem in the event you dig deep sufficient.”
“Gonna take a hell of numerous digging.” He didn’t have the guts to inform her that he’d already figured he’d by no means discover something to love about this place. Not with the way in which he felt every time he stepped outdoors.
“Then it’s simply your fortunate day!” Juniper grinned. “I’ve been on the lookout for a summer season sidekick for Lord is aware of how lengthy, and, effectively, right here you might be.”
“Summer time sidekick?” Ethan echoed, blinking at her.
“Sure,” she mentioned. “I wish to have essentially the most implausible summer season ever. The summer season to finish all summers.” She spun slowly in her chair, spreading her fingers in entrance of her face as if conjuring a picture within the air. “I would like this summer season to be—to be invincible. However clearly, you realize, I want a bit assist. Every thing is best with a buddy. To date I haven’t discovered anybody match for the job, however you’re excellent. You bought a motorbike? No? Properly, we’ll get you one, you’ll positively want it. My adventures aren’t for the weak or the bikeless.”
Ethan blinked, staring in disbelief at Juniper as she calmly sipped her float, and tried to resolve whether or not this woman was truly being critical. Her smile was disarming and real, however what if she was simply teasing him? What if this was the subsequent degree of these whispers on the sidewalk? In any case, nobody of their proper thoughts would truly ask to be known as Starfish.
“How lengthy are you gonna stare at me like that earlier than you say sure?” Juniper requested, tilting her head. “Boy, you actually don’t speak a lot.”
“I—” Ethan tried a response, however his phrases turned to sludge on his tongue. The shock, the confusion—the sudden contact with one other particular person after every week of close to silence—it was an excessive amount of to deal with.
“Nice!” Juniper Jones bounced in her seat, clapping her fingers. “Contemplate us pals, Ethan Charlie Harper.”
