Juniper Berry
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Juniper Berry's parents are the most beloved actor and actress in the world—but Juniper can't help but feel they haven't been quite right lately. And she and her friend Giles are determined to find 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: one that is terrifying and enticing, lorded over by a creature both sinister and seductive, who can sell you all the world's secrets bound in a balloon. For the first time, Juniper and Giles have a choice to make. And it will be up to them to confront their own fears in order to save the ones who couldn't.
M.P. Kozlowsky's debut is a modern-day fairy tale of terror, temptation, and ways in which it is our choices that make us who we are.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kozlowsky's debut novel is a murky mix of family drama, horror fantasy, and inspirational tale. Eleven-year-old Juniper Berry once had a cozy, love-filled life with her struggling actor parents but, with their ascent to stardom, they have become cold and zombielike, leaving Juniper lonely and confused. Intelligent, thoughtful, and ever optimistic about winning back their love and attention, Juniper spends the first third of the book trying to understand what has changed her parents readers will quickly pick up ominous hints that there is something otherworldly about the celebrity Berrys ("Mrs. Berry's teeth were bared, her nostrils flared, and her eyes were dark") and the balance combating the evil yet enticing forces that have overtaken them. She soon gains a sidekick, equally lonely Giles, whose parents have succumbed to the same power. Although filled with requisite horror elements thick forest, sinister tree, screeching raven, terrifying/tantalizing underworld lord the novel fails to inspire page-turning terror. Despite her emotional and ethical struggles, Juniper remains a flat character, making it difficult for readers to care deeply about her fate. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 10 up.
