My Jasper June

Starred review from May 20, 2019
Leah Davidson, 13, lives in a tight-knit Atlanta neighborhood—“one big family,” neighbors call it. But ever since last summer, when her brother Sam drowned, Leah’s parents have become ghostlike, and the closeness she once felt with her family and best friends has disappeared. Now, facing a long and lonely summer at home, Leah is immediately intrigued by the red-headed girl she meets while wandering through a nearby farm. Jasper is gregarious, adventurous, and possessing emotional intelligence beyond her age, qualities that help Leah to shed her grief and guilt. But as Leah learns that Jasper has a past she wants to leave behind as well, she grapples with how to protect her friend while keeping her secrets. Snyder tackles heavy topics (death and grief, abuse and homelessness) straightforwardly in this coming-of-age story. Her adept characterization of Jasper, whose hope and sincerity are palpable, offers buoyancy, and the joyful, almost ethereal friendship the two girls form is refreshingly and intensely honest. Snyder maintains a languid, unhurried pace that evokes the lazy days of summer and crescendos in a meaningful, bittersweet ending. A candid story about two teens who find solace and strength in each other. Ages 8–12. Agent: Tina Dubois, ICM Partners.

July 1, 2019
Instead of having a grand time at camp, Leah's wandering aimlessly this hot Atlanta summer, overwhelmed by complicated grief. Leah, a white Jewish 13-year-old, has been going through the motions of friendship this past year. Ever since her kid brother drowned last summer, she's been drifting through the world like a ghost, with no help from her equally broken parents. With all her friends off enjoying their summer plans, Leah first enjoys the depressive nothingness of a plan-free vacation but is eventually driven out of the house by boredom. And it's then, on an overgrown farm hidden near her wealthy corner of the city, that she first meets Jasper, who's 14. Jasper, an almost magical-seeming white redhead who does her laundry in the creek, evokes fairy tales for Leah. In the overgrown cottage where Jasper lives alone, Leah feels like she's in the Vine Realm, having the kind of adventure "every kid fantasizes about." But Jasper is on the run from a terrible home situation, and while she treasures her friendship with Leah, she still wants Leah to remember that she is homeless: "We aren't playing Narnia or Hogwarts." It takes Leah a long time to understand that the fantastical beauty she sees in Jasper's overgrown encampment is really a desperate reality, but thanks to Snyder's careful symbolism and meticulous tracking of class markers, children will see it before she does. With echoes of Bridge to Terabithia, a nuanced exploration of the tension between enchantment and reality. (Fiction. 10-12)

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Narrator Imani Parks creates a youthful voice for 13-year-old Leah, who will be spending summer at home rather than at camp due to a family tragedy that slowly reveals itself. When Leah finds a new friend, Jasper, who has set off on her own due to a rough family life, she starts to face the past and find a new way forward. Now she must find a way to help Jasper in return. Parks excels in creating emotion and drama, especially during arguments between Leah and her parents. Listeners will feel a deep connection to these characters and hope that they find healing and acceptance through their journeys. M.D. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

September 27, 2019

Gr 4-7-Leah has spent the last year lost and alone, drifting along but not engaging with her friends or the rest of the world. Now that school is out for the summer she is not sure what to do with her time. Most of her friends are gone, her parents are more like ghosts, and she doesn't seem to know how to fill the void that has been left in her life by the tragedy of last summer. All that changes one afternoon when she unexpectedly meets a girl named Jasper at a farm on the edge of her Atlanta suburb. When Leah is with Jasper, she forgets her sadness and remembers what it's like to have a friend-it's like magic. While Jasper seems to exude happiness, Leah soon realizes that Jasper's life is not easy and that she has family struggles of her own. Leah and Jasper carve out their own hidden place at the farm, where it seems nothing can touch them, but soon their real-life struggles start creeping back in. Before long Leah discovers that she must choose between keeping Jasper's secrets and sacrificing their friendship to keep her safe. VERDICT A beautiful story about the healing powers of friendship in the face of tragedy and hardship, this is a must-buy for juvenile fiction collections. -Jayna Ramsey, Douglas County Libraries in Parker, CO

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