My Jasper June by Laurel Snyder - ESSENTIAL

My Jasper June by Laurel Snyder, 291 pages. Walden Pond Press, 2019. $17            

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

Leah, 13yo, has felt alone and lost for a year, ever since tragedy struck her family. She feels like her family is just existing, drifting, not connecting anymore. Summer has come and Leah is bored and tired of watching TV. She starts exploring and likes to go to the farm close to her home. One day while exploring the river that runs through the farm she meets Jasper. The two girls really connect and quickly become best friends. They create a place, hidden and overgrown, that only they know about. Then real life catches up to them. Can they navigate the hard times and still remain friends? Will they be able to do the "right thing?

Wow! What a story! I could not put this book down. Leah and Jasper make a great connection, but something is not right and when the storm hits it was great to see how mature the girls were and what great parents Leah has. The characterization is great. Leah and Jasper just came alive in my mind. They had some fun adventures and they could also be serious. The story is fast paced and a real page-turner. It book played out like a movie in my mind.           

Ellen-Anita, Library