Juniper
   Monica Furlong
   (Associate Student Reviewer - Karrie G.)
  1992 Random House Childrens Books, NY USA
   ISBN: 0679833692


Let me introduce you to Karrie G., our first Associate Student Reviewer. She is eleven years old (going on twelve) & offers us her experience of Monica Furlong's prequel Juniper. Karrie's favorite school subjects are languages & creative writing classes which, naturally, makes her a natural for reading & reviewing for this site! I hope you enjoy her efforts as much as I do!
Rebecca
Karrie writes:

Princess Ninnoc lives in a beautiful castle in Cornwall, with a king for a father, a queen for a mother and a very loving nanny. Ninnoc has everything her heart desires and is spoiled silly with the luxurious life of a princess. She is insulted that her father would prefer a boy to rule rather than his only child and daughter.

When she is twelve years old the King and Queen decide that in order to complete her education Ninnoc should go to live with Euny, a odd woman with wild black hair who claims to be her godmother. At first Ninnoc is horrified and disgusted at the idea of going to live with this strange and frightening woman, but to her surprise she wakes up one morning with the realization that it is time to go.

Euny renames Ninnoc Juniper, after a sacred tree, and trains her in the mysterious ways of the dorans, a mysterious and magical people who have special power. It's a power that has nothing to do with ruling, wealth or war.

After learning many things in Euny's cold cabin in far away Bretagne, France, Juniper knows that even though Euny does not like to show it, she really does love her. And Juniper has learned to love Euny. She has grown into a reasonably pretty and wise young lady, no longer the spoiled child that left home only a year and a day ago. Juniper has become a true Doran and is ready to take her own path in life. She is now wise enough to choose between life as a queen, or life as she has come to know it in Euny's cabin. But her new powers are immediately challenged by Maroot, Juniper's evil aunt who longs for her father's throne.

Does Juniper return to the castle? Does Maroot seek her out? Why? If you would like to find out, read this book!

I recommend this book because it is touching, funny, adventurous, scary and everything in between. Monica Furlong is one of those authors who can make you see the story as you are reading it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

This book is the prequel to Wise Child
(09/24/00)

Karrie G.
A RebeccasReads.Com Associate Student Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
Karrie G. lives in The Netherlands. She is 15 years old, attends a Dutch Language School & is originally from Wisconsin, USA

Her favorite colors are: light blue, sea green, lavender & black!
Favorite sports are: swimming & soccer.
Favorite school subjects are: languages & creative writing class.
Favorite things to do are: playing the piano, reading, writing short stories & poetry, drawing & going to the movie theater.
The Netherlands is one of the smallest countries in Europe. Most people call the Netherlands Holland & it is about the size of Connecticut, but with a lot more people, sixteen million. You may think of tulips, chocolate, windmills & wooden shoes when you think of Holland. Although there are still lots of tulips & chocolate, & there are still some windmills, you wouldn't see many people wearing clogs today.