Juniper Harvey and the Vanishing Kingdom by Nina Varela is a middle grade adventure novel about two girls, a crown, and a kingdom crumbling away. June is the new kid in town, lonely and homesick and definitely not expecting to meet the princess of fantasy realm! But Galatea must find a way home to save her people. Nothing like a quest to develop friendship… and maybe a crush along the way.
I had fun with this book. After a somewhat slow first five chapters, the adventure truly begins. June and Galatea have a fun dynamic with a reasonable amount of quippy dialogue. (Galatea hails from the kingdom of Bulgaria… it’s why she’s like this!) Throughout the book, something often rings not quite right about the pieces of this mystery, but I didn’t put together all the pieces before learning the plot twists. It is, fundamentally, a fetch quest—but the girls’ growing, bumpy relationship keeps the story from feeling repetitive.
The sapphic content is minor but sweet. It’s a girl’s first crush. June isn’t entirely clear on her general feelings at the start of the book, but her resentment toward her straight friend’s boy-craziness definitely resonated. As an adult reader, I get it: June doesn’t feel that way and she doesn’t know why. But for a twelve-year-old? Of course she’s confused! Ultimately, June is able to realize what she wants. She also has a nice support system as she does, with her parents not insisting they know, but telling her they don’t care what gender she loves.
Themes are well realized. The book wants readers to consider the power of telling the story, who writes the tale, what are they leaving out. When things feel not quite right, the true answer can only be found by questioning what the characters thought they knew. And if Nina Varela used that to sneak in a second adorable sapphic love story, well, you won’t find me complaining!
It’s not a perfect book. I felt it started rather slowly. Also, the story suffered because readers experienced very little of Galatea’s homeland. It made the stakes feel less dire and, as a fantasy fan myself, I would have loved more worldbuilding. That said, it’s a fun middle grade read with sweet representation.
Content warning: anxiety
