December Book Recommendation

My favourite part of December is the end-of-year lists, selecting the best books from the previous year. There were many great books released in 2025, but a favourite that comes up is Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine, a haunting and wondrous story of an enslaved teen girl who uncovers secrets about her family, and makes contact with a world just beyond her own.

For impetuous and romantic 16-year-old Junie, the Alabama cotton plantation of Bellereine, is the only home she’s known. In the summer of 1860, the enslaved teenager spends her days working as a house servant with her bossy cousin, Bess, and tending to the needs of Violet McQueen, the redheaded only daughter of the plantation’s white owners. Junie illicitly wanders the local woods at night, mourning her recently deceased older sister, Minnie, and seeking the “sublime” described by her favourite poet, Wordsworth. The arrival of the wealthy Taylor siblings from Louisiana suggests the possibility of a match for Violet and exile for Junie as Violet’s maid. To avoid this catastrophe, Junie commits a desperate act that raises Minnie’s ghost from the grave and propels Junie down a dangerous path toward liberation.

Other recent books with wonderful writing and atmosphere that explore the spirit and courage of young enslaved protagonists include Let us Descend by Jesmyn Ward and Amity by Nathan Harris. You can request these books at the library in print, digital, or audio formats, or go online to find them through our catalogue: http://library.brucecounty.on.ca/