From the Bookshelf of Mock Newbery 2026…

Junonia

Kevin Henkes

Start date: August 1, 2011

Finish date: August 31, 2011

Discussion: Book of the Month 2012

Why we're reading this: "Junonia" won our poll with "The Penderwicks at Point Mouette" coming in second. Read both if you want.…more
[close] "Junonia" won our poll with "The Penderwicks at Point Mouette" coming in second. Read both if you want.

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Book of the Month 2012

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By Kristen · 7 posts · 99 views

last updated Jan 19, 2012 08:48PM

December Read- A Monster Calls and Words in the Dust
By Kristen · 26 posts · 114 views

last updated Jan 19, 2012 09:19AM

What Members Thought

Aug 25, 2011 Jess rated it really liked it

Shelves: juv

While this looks like the usual "quiet" book - the kind that adults rave about and kids ignore - I do think this one will have real appeal for a certain kind of child. The type who notices details and nuances of mood, the kind who feels things strongly and likes reading stories that acknowledge that in between place of being ten. Reading this, I kept thinking, "I remember that feeling!" And for some kids, I think that kind of acknowledgment can be incredibly validating.

The development of settin ...more

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Sep 10, 2011 Wendy rated it did not like it

Shelves: 2011-award-possibilities

Some parent's fantasy of what kids are thinking. Awkwardly written and dull. "Alice leaned into her mother to make her stay. In response, her mother leaned into Alice. At that very moment, Alice loved her mother so completely she thought they might fuse together and melt away." Yeah, I'll love you forever and like you for always, too.

Also, the elderly are people with feelings. But they still make good friends for ten-year-old girls. And everyone is beautiful in her own way. ...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Dest rated it liked it

Shelves: families, middle-grade, everyday-life

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 ...more

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Aug 16, 2011 Deanna rated it it was ok

Shelves: juvenile-fiction, 2011

Despite the gorgeous, descriptive details Henkes uses to tell the story, it otherwise flopped for me. Alice Rice goes with her family each year to Florida for a week which happens to include her birthday. Year after year they return to the same cottage and vacation with other families who also make the same trip. When the trip takes a few (minor) unexpected turns, Alice seems to be a bit of a spoiled brat with the fire only being fanned as she is mollycoddled by her seemingly well meaning parent ...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Jamie rated it really liked it

Some have called Junonia a disappointing book about disappointment, lacking excitement, humor, or endearing characters. Indeed, when I finished the book, I had to ask myself whether anything at all actually happened in it.

Slowly I've come to understand that this is the point. Junonia is about nihilism, or at least it is about the emptiness and loneliness of a certain modern lifestyle.

Alice is an only child as was her father and her mother (Henkes is careful to point this out early in the book). Some have called Junonia a disappointing book about disappointment, lacking excitement, humor, or endearing characters. Indeed, when I finished the book, I had to ask myself whether anything at all actually happened in it.

Slowly I've come to understand that this is the point. Junonia is about nihilism, or at least it is about the emptiness and loneliness of a certain modern lifestyle.

Alice is an only child as was her father and her mother (Henkes is careful to point this out early in the book). Alice's life is devoid of conflict, excitement, and ultimately meaning. Henkes depicts family life in modern America within the framework of small family size, agnosticism, lack of any real danger, and abundance of the necessities of life.

The thing is, Alice doesn't even have the drama of flawed parents. They aren't over-protective, they aren't over-indulgent. They *are* level-headed, well-meaning, adept parents. They really love Alice and she really loves them. Alice has no room for real complaints and so must make up petty ones. Then again, what kid doesn't complain about petty things, or what adult for that matter?

So why, to Alice, does everything feel so fake? And if you bought a junonia shell rather than finding one on the beach...would that be just as meaningful? Who's to say? Furthermore, if nobody really knows whether there is a God, then why not just make up your own? And how come doing so doesn't seem to add any meaning to life?

Basically that's the point of the book. At first it appears to be a shallow book with flat characters, but I think really that it is a deep book about how shallow life can feel. The flatness of the characters is--how can I say this?--more than skin deep.

All of this is not to say that Henkes is a critic of small families, agnosticism, nor being a good parent. Henkes simply writes about the reality of the modern world and its consequences.

I see this book as touching a cord for children who come from similar situations as Alice, but this is pure speculation on my part since I was raised as a Christian in a large family by (forgive me, Mom) flawed parents. (Furthermore, I've not yet been to Florida). Still, there is something familiar to the story for anyone from affluent industrialized society.

The message that I take away from Junonia is: modern middle-to-upper class liberal western society is *not* going to produce an Anne Frank. On the other hand, unnecessarily adding danger, drama, or hardship to our lives certainly isn't going to solve anything. ...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Susan Dunn rated it liked it

Shelves: j-fiction

Every winter, Alice and her parents go to Sanibel Island, FL for a week to escape the harsh Wisconsin winters. This year, the visit coincides with Alice's tenth birthday. She has hoped the trip will be extra special, but instead one woman can't get out because of a storm, and her "Aunt" Kate shows up with her boyfriend and his 6-year-old daughter, who is very troubled and kind of a pest. Despite such intrusions, Alice still hopes to have a special birthday - and perhaps finally find a rare Junon ...more

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Dec 06, 2011 Karen rated it really liked it

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think it has a good chance of winning the Newbery. However, I'm curious to see what reaction my students have to it. I'm not sure if it has widespread kid appeal, but I can think of some kids it would be perfect for. It's simple and peaceful and...quiet somehow. ...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Katie Day rated it really liked it

Shelves: reader-3-older, ms-gateway

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 16, 2011 Tamsyn rated it liked it

Shelves: realisticfiction, children-s, fms

I enjoyed this quiet book about a girl's vacation on Sanibel Island (during which she celebrates her 10th birthday). Though I enjoyed the beautiful language and descriptions as well as Henkes' sensitivity to her feelings, I wasn't moved by this book as I'd hoped. ...more

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Jun 03, 2011 Karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: childrensbooks, great-characters, bookaday, middle-grade, fiction-comp-strategies, literary-elements, theme, pair-for-background-knowledge

First book of #48HRC. Can't beleve I got this ARC in nov, at note, and just got around to reading it. Makes me want to do better job learning names of different shells - I didn't even know what a junonia was.
#bookaday as well ...more

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Sep 23, 2011 Barbara rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 24, 2011 Kathryn rated it really liked it

A lovely little book about a girl named Alice, her tenth birthday, seashells and growing up.

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Jun 15, 2011 Laura5 rated it really liked it

Shelves: realisticfiction, 2011, 2012-awards-watchlist

A beautiful piece of writing. I think adults may appreciate it more than kids.

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Mar 06, 2012 Cheryl Meibos rated it it was ok

Shelves: 4th-graders

A quiet story about a girl vacationing by seashore when she turns ten.

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Mar 28, 2011 Kris Springer rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012-newbery-reads

4.5 really is the rating. Writing is beautiful, character is believable, parents are normal & nice. Nothing happens but what does happen is real life and touching. Much like Criss Cross by Perkins.

This would be a great read for a thoughtful girl, 8-10, maybe 11. One part of the story was just a little too predictable for me, but that's probably my adult brain weighing in.

A very good read & a strong book. ...more

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Sep 13, 2011 Kate Hastings rated it liked it

Grades 3-5. I'm not sure who I would recommend this too. It is a very quiet book about a girl who goes to the beach for her 10th birthday and finds that her life and how she perceives others is changing. ...more

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