Junie

A young girl must face a life-altering decision after awakening her sisterΓÇÖs ghost,navigating truths about lovefriendshipand power as the Civil War looms. ΓÇ£The richly textured prose quickly pulled me into [JunieΓÇÖs] treacherous yet magical world.ΓÇ¥ΓÇöCharmaine WilkersonNew York Times bestselling author of Black Cake Sixteen years old and enslaved since she was bornJunie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabamacooking and cleaning alongside her familyand tending to the white masterΓÇÖs daughterViolet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worldswhile she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forestconsumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sisterMinnie. When wealthy guests arrive from New Orleanshinting at marriage for Violet and upending JunieΓÇÖs lifeshe commits a desperate actΓÇöone that rouses MinnieΓÇÖs spirit from the gravetethered to this world unless Junie can free her. She enlists the aid of Calebthe guestsΓÇÖ coachmanand their friendship soon becomes something more. Yet as long-held truths begin to crumbleshe realizes Bellereine is harboring dark and horrifying secrets that can no longer be ignored. With time ticking downJunie begins to push against the harsh current that has controlled her entire life. As she grapples with an increasingly unfamiliar world in which she has little controlshe is forced to ask herself: When we choose love and liberationwhat must we leave behind?