Junebug and the Reverend [Paperback]

Alice Mead (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 11, 2000 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Junebug is set to leave all his old problems behind when his family moves from the projects to a better neighborhood. But new problems crop up when he runs into school bullies and has trouble making new friends. His younger sister, Tasha, quickly fits in and makes friends with the tenants in their building, a group home for the elderly that their mama supervises.

When summer vacation starts, Junebug's lazy-day plans are squashed when Mama tells him to take walks with cranky old Reverend Ashford every day and play soccer with the very same school bullies that beat him up. Is this any way to spend summer vacation? Little does Junebug know that there are some lessons you don't learn in school.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-In this reassuring sequel that stands on its own, readers who worried about 10-year-old Junebug's escape from his New Haven housing project in Junebug (Farrar, 1995) will find him starting a new school on the other side of town. He is settling into a new life with the elderly patients his mother supervises in an assisted-living group home and beginning to fulfill his dream of learning to sail. He wonders about his father, jailed long ago for armed robbery, and dreams of having the boatyard manager as a father. He worries about the bullies in his new school but stands up to them when they harass his unhappy neighbor while resisting his mother's efforts to get him to befriend the boy. He resents his new chore, walking Reverend Ashford, one of the residents, each morning and the attention the Reverend's son seems to be paying to his mother. An extraordinary teacher draws him and his classmates into soccer in spite of their misgivings and they all learn some rules about fair play. Mead has a sympathetic understanding of a fourth grader's concerns and an appreciation for children's abilities to set and achieve goals for themselves. The complexities of an interracial setting are alluded to but do not drive this story that is, at heart, a refreshing picture of an appealing and unique youngster in a community where adults take an interest in and care about children.
Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 4^-6. Junebug, his mother, and his sister have made it out of the projects, and he finally has the chance to realize his dream of sailing; however, Mead writes realistic novels, not fairy tales, and in this sequel, Junebug finds that his new life brings new problems. Junebug struggles to cope with the bullies at school, his mother's new romance, and his responsibility for walking an elderly emphysema patient, the Reverend, every day. Most of all, he worries that his family, once extra close in the face of the dangerous projects, now has the freedom to explore individually and that they are drifting apart. Mead offers a portrait of a resilient, thoughtful boy, surrounding him with a number of memorable, tenderly drawn characters. Her work, whether it is set in a modern-day American city or in war-torn Kosovo (as her most recent novel, Adem's Cross, 1996), offers children a glimpse into realistically difficult lives faced with courage, optimism, and conviction. Susan Dove Lempke --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Yearling (January 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440415713
• ISBN-13: 978-0440415718
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #609,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I had an unusually healthy childhood-sailing across the ocean on a steamship at age 7, visiting England,Scotland, and Norway, and playing endlessly with my dollhouse, which perhaps eventually lead to writing many books for children. Because I live in a refugee resettlement city Portland, ME, I wrote about displaced kids from war areas, Sudan, Kurdistan, and Kosovo. I was also an art teacher. The book, Soldier Mom, now 20 years old, was written during the first Gulf War, when we suddenly used a "reserve" army instead of an enlisted one. I had two active sons, dogs, rabbit, chameleon, hamster and later assisted 40 Kosova high school students. I loved gardening, painting, reading. But suddenly began to hurt everywhere, falling, weak. Nothing helped.I had to leave my job as an art teacher but was still able to write.
Nearly twenty years (plus a bout with severe cancer) into feeling weak, I now know I have Myasthenia Gravis, a neuromuscular disease that affects your eyes, breathing, endurance and speech.
I still write, paint, sing, practice my standup comedy, and take photographs. Really nothing inside me has changed at all. I fight to improve, laugh over the silliness of ordinary life, and am curious about all sorts of things.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Junebug is a sweet book, June 8, 2000

By 

Xeneri - See all my reviews

This review is from: Junebug and the Reverend (Paperback)

Junebug's life is changing from the old world he used to know. He, his mother and sister Tasha have left the projects and onto a better way of life. But the change is not as happy as he first expects it to be. His close family seems to be going their own way and he fears that they are drifting apart. Tasha makes friends easily, while Junebug is tormented by bullies (worse his mother insists he play soccar with them!). His mother finds a new romance which is hard for him to cope with, and as if that wasn't enough, Junebug must now spend some time everday walking with a cranky elderly "Reverand" as part of his new responsibilites. His hopes of having a lazy summer squashed, Junebug tries to adjust to his new surroundings. In the process he learns a great deal about family ties, and himself.

This book is a sequel to JUNEBUG but you needn't have read the first to enjoy JUNEBUG AND THE REVERAND. I immediately liked the sweet character of Junebug the moment he appears on the page...probably because I know a kid just like him and I so seldom see such boys portrayed as realistically in print. He is thoughtful, kindhearted and resilient -- you can't help but take him into your heart. It is refreshing to see such an honest portrayel of children and community and I look forward to reading more about Junebug's growing up years. This is a book to be shared with your children.

5.0 out of 5 stars Henry's Review of Junebug and the Reverend, May 14, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Junebug and the Reverend (Paperback)

I like the first book called Junebug because the book is like my life. Like the part when he said he lives in a bad place, I used to live in a bad place too called Chelsea. One part that I think is important is when Darrel left and then later a guy came looking for Darrel. Then Junebug told the guy that Darrel went somewhere. I think that part was important because Junebug kept his promise.

I think he is real because he talks about his life and how he lives and where he lives. He also talks about his family and how his dad is in jail. He talks like a real person.

At first I was going to read this book because it had gangsters, drugs and thugs. But then I got really into it, so I read all of the Junebug books. I got so into it because there are lives that are like that. There are people that live in the projects and there are gangs.

The part I really liked in the second book was when he got jumped because it felt so real. There are people that fight only because someone said something bad about them so they want to go fight that person who said that. That really didn't happen in the book but that happens. I also think that it is so cool how he got to go to the boatyard. I wish I could that some day.

It is exciting because of all the things that happen. The important things are like don't fight, stay away from drugs, and don't be in gangs they just get you into trouble.

Sincerely,

Henry