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33rd out of 136 books
—
546 voters
Juniper Berry
Juniper's parents have not been themselves lately. In fact, they have been cold, disinterested and cruel. And lonely Juniper Berry, and her equally beset friend, Giles, are determined to figure out why.
On a cold and rainy night Juniper follows her parents as they sneak out of the house and enter the woods. What she discovers is an underworld filled with contradictions: on...more
On a cold and rainy night Juniper follows her parents as they sneak out of the house and enter the woods. What she discovers is an underworld filled with contradictions: on...more
Hardcover, 227 pages
Published
April 26th 2011
by Walden Pond Press
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I very much enjoy when books creep me out and give me goosebumps. Juniper Berry by MP Kozlowsky read in 2011 for the Dewey 24 Hour Readathon accomplished this. Juniper, the titular main character, has celebrity parents. You’d think her life is baller, but lately her parents have been acting weird, with no time nor thoughts to spare for her. Juniper then makes a friend, Giles, who is a lonely and neglected boy dealing with the same issues as her.
Read the rest of my review here
Read the rest of my review here
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I love delving into worlds featuring the fantastic. If left up to me, life would be a fantasy...or a fairy tale. I love novels brimming with epic quests and the discovery that comes as a child discovers him/herself. JUNIPER BERRY by M.P. Kozlowsky fills all of these requirements, albeit in a creepy, unforgiving way. The novel’s children, Juniper and Giles, are forced to grow up as them embark on a journey to save their parents.
Everyone has been comparing JUNIPER BERRY to the little-known tale TH...more
Everyone has been comparing JUNIPER BERRY to the little-known tale TH...more
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Juniper Berry’s parents have been acting very strange lately. The days when they all used to make pizzas together or put on one of Juniper’s plays are just a memory that grows more and more distant each day. It seems as though the more famous they become (her parents are movie stars), the less interest they have in Juniper.
Without friends or her parents, Juniper spends one lonely day after another pacing her gargantuan mansion and its expansive grounds with her dog, Kitty. One day, she meets a...more
Without friends or her parents, Juniper spends one lonely day after another pacing her gargantuan mansion and its expansive grounds with her dog, Kitty. One day, she meets a...more
Better than Coraline and not as scary. I wish this was made into a movie instead of that creepy book.
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Interesting. I only have a vague idea of what makes a book "horror" (have been told that it isn't about whether it's scary or not), but this book is definitely a horror novel for kids. Like, it's kid-appropriate, as long as the kid is cool with scary. In this I think it succeeds very well. I wanted more of some aspects, like the Dark Side of Fame. In general, the first half was really good; the second half felt like a roughly sketched plot outline, or, I suspect, a screenplay pitch. Recommended...more
This is a great book, it made me shiver several times!
I was looking around a bookstore, and this book caught my eye.
I'm glad I bought it, as it's now my favorite book!
In this fantastic book by M. P. Kozlowsky, eleven year old Juniper Berry is a child of two famous movie stars, and yet she is completely alone.
Her parents have almost completely neglected her, even forgetting to feed her. Her parents used to be loving and caring, but lately they haven't been themselves, and young Juniper is ready...more
I was looking around a bookstore, and this book caught my eye.
I'm glad I bought it, as it's now my favorite book!
In this fantastic book by M. P. Kozlowsky, eleven year old Juniper Berry is a child of two famous movie stars, and yet she is completely alone.
Her parents have almost completely neglected her, even forgetting to feed her. Her parents used to be loving and caring, but lately they haven't been themselves, and young Juniper is ready...more
Can I confess something? I read books upon books and articles about how to write a great opening for a book, and every last one of them claims you need a hook. I accept this and it’s the reason why of all the things I notice in each week’s book, I’m so often reporting here whether or not it has a great opening and a great hook to make sure the reader leaves the library with the book under their arm. To be fair, I try not to repeat myself too often, so a book may have a great opening and I may no...more
One of the most important elements in a middle grade book is its characters. M.P. Kozlowsky’s debut book, Juniper Berry, certainly have unforgettable characters that are tied within a world of fantasy and mystery. It encompasses an influential message about the importance of being careful of one’s desires and what is wished upon.
M.P.’s character development is simply wonderful. He manages to display the Juniper’s innocence and provides readers a detailed glimpse of her unique view of the world....more
M.P.’s character development is simply wonderful. He manages to display the Juniper’s innocence and provides readers a detailed glimpse of her unique view of the world....more
I loved the beginning of this book. The "voice" grabbed me from the first sentence, and I thought it was a really cool concept for a middle grade novel. And then it got...morbid.
I am all for dark and creepy, even in middle grade books. But the beginning of "Juniper Berry" was snarky-funny and playful, even with Juniper being a rather depressed little girl. Her parents are famous actors who seem to have forgotten Juniper exists. They act as though she's a nuisance and blatantly ignore her in favo...more
I am all for dark and creepy, even in middle grade books. But the beginning of "Juniper Berry" was snarky-funny and playful, even with Juniper being a rather depressed little girl. Her parents are famous actors who seem to have forgotten Juniper exists. They act as though she's a nuisance and blatantly ignore her in favo...more
"Sometimes I feel like the whole world knows something I don't. I just want to belong. Somewhere."
It is a primal need for all of us...to belong. To feel wanted. To feel needed. To be accepted for who we are. For me. For you. For Juniper Berry, too.
Juniper Berry is an eleven year-old girl who feels trapped living in her mansion with her famous film star parents. To make matters worse, her mom and dad are changing before her eyes. They are no longer interested in Juniper; they are more intereste...more
It is a primal need for all of us...to belong. To feel wanted. To feel needed. To be accepted for who we are. For me. For you. For Juniper Berry, too.
Juniper Berry is an eleven year-old girl who feels trapped living in her mansion with her famous film star parents. To make matters worse, her mom and dad are changing before her eyes. They are no longer interested in Juniper; they are more intereste...more
Juniper Berry is a precocious little girl who lives with her movie star parents in a gated mansion, removed from the rest of the world. While rabid fans and paparazzi camp out at the gates, clamoring to get a glimpse of Mr. or Mrs. Berry, Juniper wanders the grounds feeling sad and alone, playing with her dog Kitty. While she used to be extremely close to her parents, lately they have begun distancing themselves and acting quite peculiar. One day, Juniper meets a boy her age called Giles, and di...more
I wish I could give this book two ratings, one for the storyline and one for the author's writing.
My rating for storyline would be 5 stars, for sure. I loved the premise of this book. It was creepy, spooky but so full of truth and honesty and love.
My rating for the author's writing, on the other hand, would be 2 stars. I mean come on, for a former English teacher I had high expectations. This book was littered with adverbs and adjectives and so much telling it really came across as amateur or...more
My rating for storyline would be 5 stars, for sure. I loved the premise of this book. It was creepy, spooky but so full of truth and honesty and love.
My rating for the author's writing, on the other hand, would be 2 stars. I mean come on, for a former English teacher I had high expectations. This book was littered with adverbs and adjectives and so much telling it really came across as amateur or...more
Jan 16, 2013
Tanja Seppä
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-s-fantasy,
kindle
Juniper Berry lives in a big mansion with her über-famous parents. The trouble is, she has difficulty recognizing them as such these days. They act strangely. Juniper lives is homeschooled and doesn't have any friends, until one day Giles shows up. He's got the same problem - his parents doesn't seem like his parents anymore. Together they decide to figure out what is going on.
This is an unenganging, boring, moralizing tale with a feeling of déjà vû on every other page because the presented them...more
This is an unenganging, boring, moralizing tale with a feeling of déjà vû on every other page because the presented them...more
Juniper Berry's parents used to love her a lot. Now they mostly just ignore her. Being the daughter of famous movie stars isn't very exciting. She has to hang around the house all day, lonely, save for her dog and her tutor. She doesn't much like her tutor. When playing in the woods, Juniper stumbles upon a boy her age, she is excited to make a friend. Terrible things lurk in those woods though and the things that Juniper and Giles have in common are things they'd rather do without. Both of thei...more
From August 2011 SLJ:
Gr 4-6–Juniper Berry misses the days when her parents were less famous. They have become two of the most recognizable actors in the world, and the 11-year-old rattles around their mansion with only her dog for company. Even when her mother and father are home, they are too preoccupied to act out the plays that she writes for them. When Juniper meets a boy wandering around the grounds, he tells her he has noticed a similar withdrawal in his parents and believes the adults’ st...more
Gr 4-6–Juniper Berry misses the days when her parents were less famous. They have become two of the most recognizable actors in the world, and the 11-year-old rattles around their mansion with only her dog for company. Even when her mother and father are home, they are too preoccupied to act out the plays that she writes for them. When Juniper meets a boy wandering around the grounds, he tells her he has noticed a similar withdrawal in his parents and believes the adults’ st...more
What an odd little book. And so much darker than I expected. Darker even than Coraline.
Juniper Berry's parents are famous. The family lives in a huge secluded mansion with gates at the end of the drive, and paparazzi and fans swarming constantly. She doesn't even know her neighbors and she has no friends. That is, until she meets Giles, her closest neighbor, who lives a half hour's walk from her house. Their parents are all acting very funny. And they take it upon themselves to get to the botto...more
Juniper Berry's parents are famous. The family lives in a huge secluded mansion with gates at the end of the drive, and paparazzi and fans swarming constantly. She doesn't even know her neighbors and she has no friends. That is, until she meets Giles, her closest neighbor, who lives a half hour's walk from her house. Their parents are all acting very funny. And they take it upon themselves to get to the botto...more
Juniper Berry has famous parents. Not just rich, not just well-known, but famous. Angelina & Brad famous. But they're also...missing something. Something's just not right, and Juniper needs to get them back. They hardly even notice her anymore, and she's lonely, locked away from the paparazzi and the rest of the world.
But then she meets Giles, a small boy with more hair than his head can hold who becomes Juniper's very first friend--and whose parents are also more than a bit off, these days...more
But then she meets Giles, a small boy with more hair than his head can hold who becomes Juniper's very first friend--and whose parents are also more than a bit off, these days...more
Review is also up on my personal blog: http://crisrizz.wordpress.com/2011/11...
“For a while now, everything, including her, had been neglected.”
JUNIPER BERRY by M.P Kozlowsky is the first in my Kids Lit Comfort series of reviews. Sometimes a reader just needs a break from dark themes or long, prose-heavy works, or, simply, the present reality of life. At times like these, the only logical thing to do is pick up a classic (or contemporary) middle-grade or children’s book and get swept into its co...more
“For a while now, everything, including her, had been neglected.”
JUNIPER BERRY by M.P Kozlowsky is the first in my Kids Lit Comfort series of reviews. Sometimes a reader just needs a break from dark themes or long, prose-heavy works, or, simply, the present reality of life. At times like these, the only logical thing to do is pick up a classic (or contemporary) middle-grade or children’s book and get swept into its co...more
Juniper Berry gets three stars for plot and ten glorious, glorious stars for illustrations. I just was... I was underwhelmed, friends. I had such high hopes, and the whole "My parents are having their souls sucked out of their heads bit by bit" idea is madly fantastic, and Skeksyl, with his limbs like anacondas and his long yellowed teeth and his feminine way of moving, is quite clearly the sort of thing nightmares are made of.
But still, meh.
I think my problem with the book boils down to one lin...more
But still, meh.
I think my problem with the book boils down to one lin...more
"Sometimes that which seems ordinary is really most extraordinary of all."
This book, much like the book 'Coraline', is equal parts delightful and creepy. Juniper Berry is an eleven year old girl whose parents have become...something less than what they were. They are distant, cruel, unloving, and seem to have forgotten about her altogether. When she meets a boy named Giles who describes a similar fate of his own parents, they both trace the origins to a strange withered tree...and to a creature...more
This book, much like the book 'Coraline', is equal parts delightful and creepy. Juniper Berry is an eleven year old girl whose parents have become...something less than what they were. They are distant, cruel, unloving, and seem to have forgotten about her altogether. When she meets a boy named Giles who describes a similar fate of his own parents, they both trace the origins to a strange withered tree...and to a creature...more
Striking illustrations and interesting storyline but the first half of the book was a little boring and didn't hold my interest as much as the last half of the book when the action picks up. The author took a little long to set up the story and I would've liked more explanations about who the fantastical creatures and people were under the tree. The story in the book deals with changes and wants. In this story, it manifests itself into a creature that exchanges her parents wants/dreams in exchan...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Two lonely children, Juniper and Giles, become unexpected friends, and when they compare notes, they discover that their respective parents are acting incredibly strange, where once things were perfect. Now the children feel ignored, unimportant, and insignificant as their famous parents are increasingly more famous, more talented, more in demand. Juniper knows something is not right, so she follows her parents one night and observes the strangest encounter she has ever seen. An easily flowing s...more
review via Cracking the Cover
“Juniper Berry” is a great book for middle readers. Though the main character is a girl, her sex really doesn’t matter. She’s smart and inquisitive and learns how to solve problems on her own, making her a role model readers can relate to and look up to.
This is a unique story that will capture the interest of young readers. My only complaint is that the “setup” took too long. I would have liked to have seen more of the action in the second half make an appearance in...more
“Juniper Berry” is a great book for middle readers. Though the main character is a girl, her sex really doesn’t matter. She’s smart and inquisitive and learns how to solve problems on her own, making her a role model readers can relate to and look up to.
This is a unique story that will capture the interest of young readers. My only complaint is that the “setup” took too long. I would have liked to have seen more of the action in the second half make an appearance in...more
This was one of the books that I read that I expected to be too childish for me. I was totally wrong.
Juniper Berry - the daughter of two of the most popular celebrities, Mr. and Mrs. Berry. You would think life for her was amazing, perfect, dreams made into reality...well, it used to be. Mr and Mrs Berry used to be funny, entertaining, happy and enthusiastic about everything they did. Now Juniper feels as if they don't even know she's there.
She is left a lonely child, with no company except for...more
Juniper Berry - the daughter of two of the most popular celebrities, Mr. and Mrs. Berry. You would think life for her was amazing, perfect, dreams made into reality...well, it used to be. Mr and Mrs Berry used to be funny, entertaining, happy and enthusiastic about everything they did. Now Juniper feels as if they don't even know she's there.
She is left a lonely child, with no company except for...more
This book asks the question what good is it to gain the whole world and lose your soul. I love to read debut novels and see the fresh ideas and perspectives that come from hearing these new voices, but it's hard to believe that this is Mr. Kozlowsky's first book.
Kozlowsky is a deft story teller who kept the book going at a pace that made it hard to put down. I love the characters he created and cared what happened to them.
Some might find the book "preachy" but I found it refreshing that streng...more
Kozlowsky is a deft story teller who kept the book going at a pace that made it hard to put down. I love the characters he created and cared what happened to them.
Some might find the book "preachy" but I found it refreshing that streng...more
The first issue that i would like to adresse is the fact that in the front cover it says that the book was ment for ages 8-12. Now lets stop right there, if an 8 year old read this book they would be scarred and have nightmares all night, i would not even reccomend this book to a 12 year old. This book has a large vocabulary and some intense disturbing details. Now i am 14 years old but i am a very advanced mature reader so the reccomended age i would give it would be 15-17 so i feel that it wou...more
This book is a different slant on a kids save adults theme. The main characters are well developed and you want them to succeed. A dark force is in the woods and adults are slowly selling off their souls for fame and glory. Two children, Juniper and Giles, with needs of their own, set out to find the cause for the change in their parents. I really liked the way the author had Giles as an adoptive child. Without going too much into his background the author kept it very clear Giles adoptive paren...more
I enjoyed this book. As it is a middle grade book I was not surprised at completing it in a few hours. I liked Juniper Berry, she is an interesting character. I would have liked to get to know Giles a bit better; he was her best and only friend after all. I loved the dog, named Kitty. I thought it was pretty creepy and for children with over-active imaginations (like my own child) I may hold off reading this one for a while. I think he was up all night after Coraline and I think this one was eve...more
Wonderfully written, and beautiful drawings. I loved the descriptions. I would caution younger readers that there are some more disturbing parts, but I believe they were done tastefully. But for particularly squeamish individuals, I don't know if I could still recommend this to you. Also, it does have a 'Moral to the Story' feel to parts of it, but I did not feel that it was bothersome. I just know some people run away from stories with a 'Moral to the Story' feel. Indeed, sometimes such people...more
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M.P. Kozlowsky was a high school English teacher before becoming a writer. Juniper Berry is his first book. He lives in New York with his wife and daughter.
More about M.P. Kozlowsky...
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“Sometimes that which seems ordinary is really most extraordinary of all.”
—
8 people liked it
“Even without much experience in friendships, the lonely girl and the castaway boy filled the time as two friends should.”
—
1 person liked it
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