Junie Moon Rising: A True Story. a Hedonistic Woman Tries to Change So She Can Adopt a Child from the Streets of Asia.

by June Collins

This sequel to Goodbye Junie Moon begins where she left off in Washington D.C. She has just testified in Senate Hearings about the corruption among the sergeants managing the army NCO and enlisted men's clubs in Vietnam. By succumbing to her conscience and becoming a whistle blower, she had put her life at risk and lost her business of providing rock bands for the military clubs. Her testimony made front page headlines all over the United States. With her life in tatters, she hopes to make a fresh start and that fresh start includes adopting a poverty stricken child from the streets of Asia. She has seen so much death and so many devastated lives that she now hopes, in some small way, to save a little life. This seems impossible. She is not the usual PTA candidate. A divorced, ex-exotic dancer, suffering P.T.S.D. from the Vietnam War has little chance of meeting the adoption agencies stringent guidelines for adoptive parents. And even in the 1970's, such overseas adoptions were expensive. Even worse, the rules required that she be married. She had tried that once - briefly, and vowed she would never marry again. So, with no husband, no money, and a life best suited to the future TV series, Sex and The City, what hope did she have? Her only assets are courage, persistence, and determination. The only glimmer of hope comes from the royalties she hopes to accrue from a book she plans on writing about her Vietnam experiences. Can she change her hedonistic ways, find a husband and become an acceptable adoptive parent? Only time will tell. It is hard to believe that this story is not fiction but it has all been repeatedly verified.

316 pages, Paperback

First published April 8, 2013

About the author

June Collins made international news headlines in 1969 when she became a whistle-blower and testified before a U.S. Senate Committee. She pointed the finger at a group of corrupt American Army sergeants who had made millions in Vietnam by demanding kickbacks from all booking agents and sales people. June, an ex exotic dancer,had provided rock bands to the US military camps during the war. After destroying her business by listening to her conscience, she made a comeback when The Khaki Mafia, (co-authored with Robin Moore, author of The French Connection) was published and became a best seller book.

During her many years living in Asia, June had become appalled by the plight of the abandoned street children. In her home country, Australia, adoption was near impossible. Therefore, she chose to remain in the USA. Eventually she was able to adopt six children, ranging in age from three to thirteen, from India, Korea, Columbia and the USA.

Once the children were grown she again turned to writing and has again written two more books about the Vietnam war. Goodbye Junie Moon is the non-fictionalized story about her encounters with The Khaki Mafia. The sequel, Junie moon Rising, shows her recovery from PTSD after the war ends and she tries to fit back into civilian life.

Following a turbulent life, she now resides in relative tranquility on a mountain top overlooking the ocean in Queensland Australia.

Reviews

[Travis Benton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read June Collin's other two books, Khaki Mafiaand Goodbye Junie Moon. This latest book is just as good as the last two.

The series is something straight out of fiction. I keep expecting someone to make a movie of it.

[Beryl Belsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main focus of June Collins’ first memoir, Goodbye June Moon, is war-torn Vietnam, where she worked as a booking agent providing entertainment for the US troops there. It ends with her giving testimony before a US Senate committee on the widespread corruption in the army clubs. In Junie Moon Rising, Collins takes up where she left off, just after her testimony, wondering what she is to do with herself.

A phone call from the author and scriptwriter Robin Moore leads to their collaboration on the book The Khaki Mafia and to a love affair between the two. After they part, June leads the high life of a party girl, moving eventually to Florida, where she purchases and lives on a traditional Chinese house boat, throwing wild parties and burning the candle at both ends. Struggling to maintain her lifestyle on the royalties from the book, she hosts a local TV talk show, which gains some popularity.

In addition to a niggling thought that surfaces during her more sober moments − that her restlessness and wild living may be a symptom of the post-traumatic stress syndrome suffered by many Vietnam war veterans − June clings to long-held desire to adopt an Asian child and is therefore aware of the need to settle down and find a suitable marriage partner, preferably a millionaire. (In those days, the 1970s and 1980s, in the US, one had to be married in order to adopt.) She eventually finds a husband, albeit one that turns out not to be as rich as she first thought. Living together at first in difficult conditions in Alaska, they eventually move to Seattle, but there, too, June has to undergo many trials before she is able to adopt her first child from India. Eventually, she ends up with six adopted children.

The novelty in Goodbye June Moon is June in war-torn Vietnam, a plucky woman in a man’s world who dares in the end to risk all and expose the corruption around her. While Junie Moon Rising lacks that overriding dramatic element, there is no absence of drama, and the motif of adoption, though less vivid than war, weaves in and out throughout it. Her life in Alaska and aboard a king crab fishing trawler, which husband Doug captains in the stormy Bering Strait, demonstrate her continuing gutsy spirit and willingness to take risks. And while she had to tame her nature somewhat as a mother, she would still wake the children at 02:00 in order to go shopping and see a side of life they would not experience during the day.

June’s unconventional and adventurous character makes the sequel to her first book equally engrossing reading. If you were captivated by June’s personality and deeds in Goodbye Junie Moon, then you will enjoy accompanying her on her journey in Junie Moon Rising.

Review originally published at The Writer's Drawer, an intercultural website for writers of all levels and all genres - http://www.thewritersdrawer.net/index...

[Mom Taxi Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm totally fascinated with Junie Moon. She's lived so many different kinds of lives all in one! To think I've lived in the same 45 mile radius my entire life and she's been all over the world and back. Thanks to her books I got to experience a bit of her travels with her.

Junie Moon Rising picks up right when her last book leaves off which I was thrilled with. Bathing topless on a big Japanese boat to running a trucking company we travel along with June through her life experiences.

I thought this was a great read. I was a little sad when it was over. But look! She has a blog! :)

[Nancy Felato · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book! Hated to finish it.

[mountainmama · Rating 5 out of 5]

In June Collins’ sequel to ‘Good-bye Junie Moon’, the story picks up after her Senate Hearing testimony against corruption in the military. Her former career destroyed, she teams up with Robin Moore to write ‘Khaki Mafia’. While the rest of us from that era were obsessing over which floor wax gave the best shine, Junie Moon was writing on a tropical island, meeting celebrities, living on a houseboat, hosting a radio show, ice trucking in Alaska, fishing for king crab on the treacherous north Pacific, etc. etc. etc. But all the while, she was working toward her dream of adopting children from poverty-stricken areas. Her determination and drive to fulfill her destiny was a non-stoppable force. If you look up ‘true grit’ in the dictionary, I’m sure her picture would be there.

Ms. Collins’ writing is exceptionally entertaining. She has great wit and style, and makes everything interesting and moving. She is the antithesis of boring. Fearless and perhaps sometimes reckless, she never let anything stand in her way. What a fascinating person and what an incredible life she has led. Five stars!!

[Leila Summers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading June Collins’ second book as much as her first one. Ms Collins has a wonderful way of writing that flows easily, keeping the reader entertained as well as educated. This story follows on from her first book, Goodbye Junie Moon, and revolves around the author’s dream to adopt street children and the long, exciting, and sometimes difficult and frustrating journey it took her to get there. It was a different era, when things weren’t as simple and easy as they are now. The author also had a good deal of contact with the rich and famous which was fun and enlightening to read about. I was a little dissatisfied in the end not to find out more about her subsequent five adoptions as well as what became of her, her husband and her six children, but I certainly look forward to the next book from this gutsy and intriguing woman who has led an extraordinary life.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than her first book!

I wasn't sure I would enjoy June's second book. I mistakenly assumed she had already told us everything really interesting about her life in "Goodby Junie Moon," but was I ever wrong in that assumption. This book was even better than the first. I can hardly believe that anyone could possibly have enough strength and energy to do all that she has done. And I'm sure there is a wealth of further experiences she didn't have space to include. Loved this book. You will enjoy it more if you read "Goodby Junie Moon" first. I highly recommend both books by June Collins.

[Nanci · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first June Collins book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It highlights her experiences in the 70's and 80's. She did many non-traditional things in a time when women were just beginning to become independent. Her life is fascinating.