Monday 28 March 2022

Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index

Finished March 2
Juniper Lemon's Happiness Index by Julie Israel

This teen novel follows title character Juniper during her junior year of high school. A couple of months ago Juniper was in a car accident that also took the life of her older sister Camie. Before Camie died, Juniper was keeping a daily list of things in her life that made her happy, something Camie encouraged her in. Since then, Juniper has adjusted the list for both happy and sad, and numbered them from that day instead of with the date. She keeps them on index cards, and when she is running late one day, she takes the card to school to finish. 
When she gets home the card is missing and this sends her on a hunt for it that takes her to some unusual places and brings her some unexpected companions. 
Juniper's lifelong best friend has been keeping her distance, and Juniper doesn't know how to fix that. She ends up approaching new people and making new friends, but her motives for that don't always come from the right place. 
One unexpected outlet for her ends up being art, and she begins experimenting with her feelings for her sister through this. 
I liked the character of Juniper and felt for her struggling through her grief, as well as with the differing reactions of those around her, from her parents to her friends, teachers, and classmates. 
A good read, that kept me interested throughout. 

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