Melanie Dulaney's Reviews > Juneberry Blue

11 year old Andie lives above the family diner with her grandmother, mom and little sister. She has a best friend, loves to create stories, isn’t always thrilled to do her part at the dinner and misses her dad when he’s out of town using his 18 wheeler to haul musicians’ equipment across the country. Totally typical, right? Nope. She lives in a dwindling town with a population of 11, has a morning glory plant named Priscilla who actually snatches things off the diner countertop/people’s plates, and on Midsummer’s Days she will “test” a recipe to see if she has inherited her family’s magical gift that seems to run through the oldest girl each generation. The usual gift does not come, but Andie does begin to see ghosts and to communicate with them and with their help, may be able to revive the old soda factory, bring her father home for good, and keep Morning Glory from falling off the map.

Wonderful “ghost” story that isn’t the least bit scary. But middle grade readers will thoroughly enjoy meeting a unique cast of characters and solving the mystery of the lost Juneberry Blue soda recipe right along with Andie. Text is free of profanity, sexual content and violence.

Read alike: Ghosts of Ordinary Objects series by Angie Smibert.