Junonia

When you turn 10, you're ready to learn to cope with disappointment, to withhold judgement, to exercise empathy and compassion, and to celebrate your newer, more mature outlook on life. Iow, lots of lessons here. But none are actually taught: Henkes' genius is that he's subtle, and lets the reader watch the events unfold. Neither the reader, nor Alice, actually realizes that the events are learning opportunities; they just become wiser.

Alice and her parents head to Florida every year for a vacation that also celebrates her birthday, but this year, her tenth, holds changes that Alice finds unsettleing.

A quiet, introspective book, Alice is very thoughtful, yet also impatient and unwilling to share her "people", which she's forced to do this year, when a favorite family friend brings a new boyfriend and his six-year-old daughter. Touching on change, its inevitability and all of our reluctance to it, this is a sweet story. I'll be reading it this summer with my 3rd-5th grade book club.

Recommended.

The ocean has always been a place of solace for me, water baby that I am. The same can be said for a young girl named Alice, whose family goes to a beach house in Florida every winter. Each year, Alice celebrates her birthday while on vacation, and this year is especially special: She’s turning ten years old, double-digits! She’s excited beyond belief, but that emotion quickly tapers off as she realizes that this year won’t be the same as previous ones. First, some older kids can no longer come on vacation due to a heightened course load at school, then her favorite artist gets stranded due to a snow storm. To top it all off, her favorite aunt shows up—but with her new boyfriend and his five-year-old brat, Mallory. This will show more definitely be a summer for Alice to remember, but will those memories be good ones or tarnish her love of a place she’s always loved?

Kevin Henkes has a beautiful way of writing. His sentences are so precious, so descriptive, that I just wanted to scoop them up and let them sit on my tongue to melt like drops of sugar. He’s good at creating a picture with words that evokes the perfect image in the mind’s eye. He’s best-known for his picture books, especially KITTEN’S FIRST FULL MOON, which won the Caldecott in 2005, along with several other prizes. His art in JUNONIA is whimsical and light; in the finished product, the illustration that begins each chapter reminds me of a pen-and-ink drawing, and each image is bursting with images of a beach vacation.

The heart of JUNONIA is very delicate. There isn’t a lot of action in this short middle-grade novel. Alice is very introspective for a girl her age, which some readers in the 7 - 12 demographic might have trouble relating to. They might get bored and put the novel down. At the same time, the book has a soothing quality to it destined to appeal to readers who get scared by a lot of big events and not knowing what comes next. On top of that, Henkes sneaks a powerful lesson into the pages of his book about the power of sharing, as well as the way everything changes, but not always in a bad way. Alice does a lot of growing up in this book, which ends on just the right note. show less

There is something about Kevin Henkes novels that I can't quite put my finger on... but I think if I read one without knowing who wrote it, I would be able to identify it as his. The main thing I think is that he is a master of expressing the emotions of children. How they feel. What sparks those feelings. The other thing is that his books are never highly plot-driven. It's more like we just step in and see a segment of the protagonist's life. There is a starting point and and ending point, but the books always seem to be much more about the way the main character feels and interacts with others than it is about plot elements.
In Junonia, Alice (9, turning 10 during the book) goes with her parents on an annual vacation to a beach in show more Florida. When she gets there, she finds that several of the things she looks forward to every year will be different (or non existent) this year. A new girl, several years younger shows up, and Alice must deal with her too. The book is about all of these things, but what it is really about is how Alice feels and reacts to things.
It is a lovely book. show less

Many people will call this a "quiet" story, which is usually a euphemism for a boring story. Not much happens in Junonia. A girl named Alice goes to Florida with her parents for vacation. She turns ten. She's disappointed that her mother's best friend comes with a new boyfriend and his annoying six-year-old daughter. She hopes to find a rare junonia shell. Yawn.

But Henkes does sort of amazingly capture a ten-year-old's voice. Alice's small moments of joy and despair hit me as true. I kinda felt transported back to being a little girl myself. It was pretty great.

So I enjoyed this book, but I don't know if many kids will. It's a hard sell because there's hardly any plot and it's not particularly funny or unique. But it's a very show more well-written glimpse into a child's inner world. show less

Alice and her family travel from Wisconsin to Florida’s Sanibel Island for
their winter vacation each year, and this year Alice is particularly
excited. The family stays in the same cottage, Scallop, and revisits the
same friends and neighbors year after year, a tradition that is very
special to Alice. While her birthday always falls within the week of their
trip, this year Alice will turn 10, and she is excited for all the
maturity that double digits will bring. Alice is also convinced that this
will be the year she finds a rare Junonia shell to add to her extensive
shell collection.
The Junonia shell comes from a type of sea snail, and is typically found
washed up on shore only after severe storms due to its deepwater habitat.
Alice has show more searched for a Junonia for years, with no luck. There is always
the option of buying one in a local gift shop, but Alice has no interest
in procuring the prized Junonia in anything other than the most authentic
manner. That would be cheating. She just knows that this will be the year
she finds one.
It turns out, however, that things don’t go exactly as Alice had hoped.
Her beloved aunt Kate, who joins the family at Scallop every year and
dotes on Alice, is coming with her new boyfriend and his spoiled and whiny
6 year-old daughter, and even staying at another cottage on the beach. The
three friends who always stayed nearby with their elderly grandparents
weren’t coming to Sanibel Island this year. And the nearby cottage of
Helen, the eccentric and fun artist from New York City who always
remembers Alice’s birthday with presents, stands empty and dark this year.
With the gentle guidance of her patient mother and father, Alice slowly
comes to accept and cope with the disappointments that seem to come one on
top of another. The story spans only seven days, yet the reader knows that
this week is a turning point for Alice. Junonia is a gentle, quiet tale
about growing up, and the realization that life sometimes lets you down.
Henkes has created a character in Alice who deftly balances the line
between girlhood and adolescence. Her voice is authentic, and her worries,
fears, and disappointments are spot-on. Henkes perfectly captures the
world of a nine (almost ten!) year old girl in this sweet and absolutely
wonderful tale! ~KD show less

Kevin Henkes novels always have that quiet thoughtfulness about them. Alice and her parents set off for their annual Florida vacation and on this trip she looks forward to turning 10. But the trip isn't exactly as she anticipated when some of her favorite people don't show up, and Aunt Kate's new boyfriend and his daughter Mallory upset the expected dynamic. This is about growing up and learning to deal with the disappointments of life. And being 10, she's on the cusp of realizing life isn't always going to be what you expect or want. It's a pretty deep message once you think about it.