Junie: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Novel

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK As the Civil War looms, a young girl must face a lifealtering decision after awakening her sisters ghost in this poignant story of love, family and friendship [that] celebrates the power of liberation (People).An enrapturing tale of survival . . . Eckstine has poured a ton of heart into her characters.The Atlanta JournalConstitutionThe richly textured prose quickly pulled me into [Junies] treacherous yet magical world.Charmaine Wilkerson, New York Times bestselling author of Black CakeSixteen years old and enslaved since she was born, Junie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, cooking and cleaning alongside her family, and tending to the white masters daughter, Violet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worlds, while she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forest, consumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sister, Minnie.When wealthy guests arrive from New Orleans, hinting at marriage for Violet and upending Junies life, she commits a desperate actone that rouses Minnies spirit from the grave, tethered to this world unless Junie can free her. She enlists the aid of Caleb, the guests coachman, and their friendship soon becomes something more. Yet as longheld truths begin to crumble, she realizes Bellereine is harboring dark and horrifying secrets that can no longer be ignored.With time ticking down, Junie begins to push against the harsh current that has controlled her entire life. As she grapples with an increasingly unfamiliar world in which she has little control, she is forced to ask herself: When we choose love and liberation, what must we leave behind?