Gr 5 Up–Eleven-year-old Juniper Berry loves living in the woods. She hunts, climbs trees, fox-walks, and goes to earth school, but she doesn’t like doing laundry. Living off the grid with her parents Zephyr and Clara, her older sister Skylark, and younger brother Hawk, Juni has no desire to enter what Clara calls “society.” But when Hawk gets sick, Juni and her family make the 20-mile hike to the city where Juni learns about refrigerators, phones, peanut butter, public school, and that she has family—an uncle and two cousins—she didn’t know about. With Hawk hospitalized and medical bills mounting, Juni is determined to help her family pay for his care. But trying to find her way in school is hard, and she makes some mistakes along the way. As she struggles to adapt to this new life, Juni finds out that she wants to make friends and that there are society people who care.
VERDICT This is a high interest book with a complex and compelling protagonist, that addresses mental health issues, the importance of family, connecting to nature, valuing different strengths, and standing up for what is right.
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