Navigating Spiritual Realms in Junie
Encountering a book that leaves you flustered by the end is a reward. It’s rare for me to complete a book and become so speechless that I cannot immediately string a sentence together to express the book’s impact. Junie by Erin Crosby Ecksteine bursts onto the historical fiction scene with a beautifully haunting force — so much so that I feel compelled to write about it.
Dawnshaeé Reid holding a hardcover copy of Junie. March 2025.
I attempted to record a book reflection video, but my mind began replaying all of the novel’s themes, characters, and monumental scenes at 2x speed. I couldn’t wrangle my thoughts to make a cohesive 90-second review, so now I’m left to put them in writing — hoping to sway you to read this brilliant story, a Good Morning America Book Club pick, on spiritual divinity, friendship, and survival.
Junie is the story of an enslaved teenage Black girl during the looming Civil War. The main character Junie (fondly known as Delilah June throughout the book by a love interest) is introduced to us as a high spirited girl, almost carelessly so, that refuses to allow her bondage to bind her mind. She climbs the tallest trees in the darkest parts of the woods, wields an intellect that’s “too advanced” for a slave, and unabashedly questions the unknown to a point that frightens her elders. After suddenly losing her sister Minnie, Junie is left to grieve and fight the pain of blaming herself as the cause.
Through the loss of her sister, Junie has more questions than she ever had before. A slew of how’s, why’s, and what’s, lead her to an enclave of spirits that challenge her perception of her world on the Bellerine Plantation in Alabama. Her parents and sister are gone, all she has is the slight guidance of extended family members and a complex friendship with Violet, the white master’s daughter that she tends to day in and day out. As much as I would like to pick apart the layered friendship between Junie and Violet, I would prefer to dedicate my efforts in this book reflection to the spiritual divinity that is embedded in Junie’s journey.
Junie’s curiousity has gotten her into many things, but summoning the spirit of her deceased sister is a first. Reading the fragmented recounts of Junie and Minnie’s releationship saddened me. I often speak with high regard of my own siblings, especially my sisters, so to read those reflective moments from Junie’s point-of-view when she’s revisiting times when her sister was alive, I could feel the pain associated with their disconnection as much as I could feel her yearning for her sister’s presence. To lose someone is already a burden to bear but grief has a funny way of forcing an individual to evolve. Throughout the novel, Minnie’s spirit tasks Junie to embark on journey to free her — well actually free the both of them.
I’ve read my share of historical fiction novels set during the slave period. Even the faintest thought of freedom for an enslaved person had the potential to send them into a pandemonium-like fear with echoes of their masters threats and inhumane disciplinary actions ringing in their ears. But for Junie, her faith and fear were at a constant state of tug and war. The list of things to fear grew through time as new characters came to the plantation, her sister’s demands became more difficult to ignore, the sensational pull she felt for a guy she had a limited and uncertain amount of time with, and the lingering possibility that at any moment she could be ripped away from her family with no say so on the matter. The author constructed a tension between Junie’s faith and fear to demonstrate that the two work together to form a belief system to bring forth action and change in Junie’s life.
There is a hesitancy in listening to spirits, especially for someone as young and in Junie’s predicament. The author captures the responsibility that binds Junie to her ancesters, while also clearly forging a path of Junie to make decisions for her future as the living. Junie is a well-written example of spiritual journies and how they cannot be taking lightly even when a charcter may find it easier to bend to the will of fear.
I’m no stranger to books that make me cry, it’s part of what makes a book a five-star read for me, I could not write this review without highlight an additional character from the novel: Caleb. Caleb’s presence throughout the novel was a beacon of hope and contributed to Junie’s spiritual conquest and beliefs. Caleb is the love interest who’s voice I can only imagine as deep and heartfelt every time he approached Junie with a soft spoken “Hey, Delilah June”. Caleb is a reminder that love can still reach a person in the dark, that love can still guide you in the living as spirits like Minnie’s simultaneously guide from the other side, and that sometimes you have to push yourself for your betterment beyond what you think you’re capable of achieving.
There’s so much I could say about this novel, which I was clearly better off writing about instead. If you’ve read Junie, I would love to hear your thoughts on it, too!
Comparable Titles to Check Out:
In the video I recorded where I couldn’t gather my thoughts all the way lol I mentioned my admiration of books that exemplify the rooted spiritual connection that enslaved Black people had, a spirituality that is evidently still present amongst their descendants. (Remember, this is *my* book reflection and I’m solely speaking from my perspective.)
I mentioned Yonder by Jabari Asim because it is one of those books I truly loved but don’t talk about it as nearly as much as I should. So in honor of enjoying Junie, I wanted to highlight Yonder, and share a list of other books you may love or if you loved any of these you should give Junie a read:
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