Junie

“The richly textured prose quickly pulled me into the protagonist’s treacherous yet magical world. I was drawn to the story of Junie, an enslaved teenager with a love of books and nature who must navigate difficult truths about her family and friendships in order to survive her times.”—Charmaine Wilkerson, New York Times bestselling author of Black Cake

“Propulsive and haunting, young Junie takes on the many burdens handed to her while reaching for the hope she wasn’t meant to have. Erin Crosby Eckstine breathes urgency, wit, and resilience into her preternaturally gifted protagonist. Junie is a lush and immersive story about power, reckoning, love, and redemption. . . . A true beauty of a book.”—Diane Marie Brown, author of Black Candle Women

“Junie is the beating heart of this powerful and moving coming-of-age novel, insisting on her right to language, love, and a life on her own terms. Rich in historical detail and packed with suspense, this is a story of survival I will not forget.”—Erin Swan, author of Walk the Vanished Earth

“A haunting tale about power, family, and the difficult choices we sometimes have to make for (or in spite of) the people we love. Here is a novel that takes a clear-eyed look at the brutality of slavery without ever depriving the people harmed by it of their agency and humanity.”—Rita Chang-Eppig, author of Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea

“[A] finely crafted debut . . . The complex plot and righteous protagonist will keep readers turning the pages. Eckstine evokes the earthly and supernatural to equally powerful effect in this richly layered tale.”—Publishers Weekly