My Jasper June

By: Laurel Snyder

Narrated by: Imani Parks

Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

“This book is a treasure - a touching story of friendship, loss, and finding beauty in the everyday, with characters who stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page. I absolutely loved it.” (R. J. Palacio, New York Times best-selling author of Wonder)

Laurel Snyder, author of Orphan Island, returns with another unforgettable story of the moments in which we find out who we are, and the life-altering friendships that show us what we can be.

The school year is over, and it is summer in Atlanta. The sky is blue, the sun is blazing, and the days brim with possibility. But Leah feels...lost. She has been this way since one terrible afternoon a year ago, when everything changed. Since that day, her parents have become distant, her friends have fallen away, and Leah’s been adrift and alone.

Then she meets Jasper, a girl unlike anyone she has ever known. There’s something mysterious about Jasper, almost magical. And Jasper, Leah discovers, is also lost. Together, the two girls carve out a place for themselves, a hideaway in the overgrown spaces of Atlanta, away from their parents and their hardships, somewhere only they can find.

But as the days of this magical June start to draw to a close, and the darker realities of their lives intrude once more, Leah and Jasper have to decide how real their friendship is, and whether it can be enough to save them both.

©2019 Laurel Snyder (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers

Great Book.

Would give this a 4.7 for story if able to. Loves the story but the ending sort of felt like someone one wrapping things up into a neat package that was a little too happy. Overall though great book with wonderful characters and subject areas.

The ending wasn’t clear

The beginning was really slow the midway flowed and I got to k ow the character but the end wasn’t clear.

BROKEN

"My Jasper June" is a beautifully rendered story of life by Laurel Snyder. Snyder shows different ways of coping with life's broken parts. It takes place in Atlanta, Georgia, but it could be in Anywhere, America. It is a story of a 13-year-old girl, her friend, and her family. Every parent who has a teenage child will be entranced by Snyder's tale.

There are many ways Snyder's story resonates with its reader/listeners. The most significant is in ways of coping with broken parts of one's life. Some run from problems, but as the boxer Joe Louis famously said, "You can run but you can't hide." Snyder shows healing from broken parts can only begin with being honest with yourself and those around you. Understand how you are broken and explain the broken parts to those who are important to you. Snyder shows with understanding of what is broken, plans can be made, and actions taken.

Narrator makes this unbearable

The narrator is really awful. She has odd cadences and just sinks this already heavy story from the start. Had to stop. Best to try the print version.