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The
Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones by
Daven
McQueen
Publisher:
Wattpad Books
Release
Date: June 16, 2020
Genre:
Young Adult, Historical Fiction
Synopsis:
It’s
the summer of 1955. For Ethan Harper, a biracial kid raised
mostly by
his white father, race has always been a distant
conversation. When
he’s sent to spend the summer with his aunt
and uncle in small-town
Alabama, his Blackness is suddenly front
and center, and no one is
shy about making it known he’s not
welcome there. Except for
Juniper Jones. The town’s resident
oddball and free spirit, she’s
everything the townspeople
aren’t―open, kind, and full of
acceptance.
Armed
with two bikes and an unlimited supply of root beer floats,
Ethan and
Juniper set out to find their place in a town that’s bent
on rejecting them. As Ethan is confronted for the first time by what
it
means to be Black in America, Juniper tries to help him see the
beauty in even the ugliest reality, and that even the darkest days
can give rise to an invincible summer.
Daven
McQueen’s Juniper Jones is a character for all ages in this
sweet
coming of age story set in 1950s Alabama.
Book Links:
How did you come up with the idea for The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones?
The idea for an ‘invincible summer’ came from an Albert Camus quote that I loved at the time, but the story itself really started with me wanting to write a summer lakeside story. At the same time, I was realizing that pretty much everything I’d written up to that point had featured white characters, mostly because it’d always been indirectly signaled to me that that was what people wanted to read. I really wanted to start writing stories I could see myself in, so I decide to tackle both at once.
Did you do any research for The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones?
I did do a lot of research, though in hindsight, during my first draft, I wasn’t exactly researching the right things. I spent a lot of time brushing up on fifties slang, TV news programs, what people wore, the kinds of cars they drove – so mostly surface level stuff. I drew a lot on my own experiences with race and what I’d learned about the Jim Crow era in school, which you know, wasn’t much. Coming back to the story years later with my editor, though, gave me a chance to do deeper research into how racism really manifested in the South at that time.
Do you have a favourite character in The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones?
I know popular opinion is that Juniper is the best, and she’s great – but I really love Ethan. I loved writing his growth and I think he’s so earnest and has so much capacity for friendship.
What was your favourite part of writing The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones?
I really loved writing the scenes of Ethan and Juniper having their adventures around Ellison – their friendship was so much fun to bring to life.
Do you have any advice for new writers?
Just keep writing! It can feel daunting and futile especially when you’re only a couple of chapters into what you imagine as 100k word novel, but the words will come. And you might not like some of them the first time around, but that’s what editing is for.
What’s your favourite book/series?
An impossible question. But I’ve been reading a lot in quarantine, and a couple of my favorites have been Love by Toni Morrison, In the Country by Mia Alvar, and Days of Distraction by Alexandra Chang.
About the Author
Daven
McQueen grew up outside of Los Angeles, California. She
graduated
from Brown University, where she earned a B.A. in
literary arts and
economics. When she’s not writing, Daven can be
found tap dancing,
embroidering, cooking, and eating dessert. She
lives in Boston,
Massachusetts and works in education.
Author Links:
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