03/06/2023
Two teenagers team up to save a boy trapped in a haunted house in this eerie paranormal mystery, Crespo’s debut. After eight years away, a new foster home placement brings 17-year-old Jaime Alvarez-Shephard, who is Mexican American and transgender, back to his quaint hometown of Saint Juniper, Vt. When neighborhood gossip surrounding his past proves too much to bear, he escapes into the nearby woods, called the Folly, where he enters a solitary Victorian house—and is forbidden to leave by the resident ghost. That’s where he’s found days later by white-cued rising senior Theo Miller, who feels compelled to save Jaime despite his abrasive nature. Theo’s desperation leads him to a local occult shop, and Puerto Rican witch Taylor Rivera Bishop, 18, who is eager to carry on her recently deceased mother’s magical legacy, despite being prohibited from practicing magic by her grieving father. Friendship grows among the teens as they strive to free Jaime without being implicated for his disappearance. Centering themes of found family and identity, Crespo depicts Theo’s unfolding understanding of his sexuality with sensitivity and realism, and his strengthening romance with Jaime sparkles with anticipatory tension and affable banter. Ages 14–up. Agent: Mary C. Moore, Kimberley Cameron Literary. (May)
★ "The vividly drawn features of Saint Juniper's Folly create a suspenseful, unsettling atmosphere, but the chills and frights are interspersed with moments of levity and warmth. . . ."—Shelf Awareness, Starred Review
★ "Teens feeling stuck—in various identification boxes, in the Sisyphean cycle of school days, or in the sometimes poisonous, sometimes nurturing bounds of family—will likely relate to Jaime’s yearning for freedom, and this remarkable debut novel carefully explores these struggles with grace and sympathy. . . . Theo, Jaime, and Taylor are unforgettable."—The Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books, Starred Review
"This sweet, supernatural love story features a trio of likable protagonists with each chapter alternating among their perspectives. . . . A recommended first purchase for teen collections looking to expand their supernatural fiction and LGBTQIA+ titles."—School Library Journal
"Crespo's debut blends together magic and mystery, love and connection, and romance to create a creepily engaging gothic narrative."—Booklist
"Readers who enjoy watching a queer love story unfold amid peril will enjoy. . . ."—Kirkus Reviews
"Centering themes of found family and identity, Crespo depicts Theo’s unfolding understanding of his sexuality with sensitivity and realism, and his strengthening romance with Jaime sparkles with anticipatory tension and affable banter."—Publishers Weekly
“Deeply atmospheric and unexpectedly moving, Saint Juniper’s Folly is a slow, ominous creep of a book. Alex Crespo demonstrates how trauma can build walls and trap us in our own haunted houses, but they also show us the way out.” —Aiden Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys and The Sunbearer Trials
“A tale of friendship and love wrapped up in haunted houses and bloody magic. Alex Crespo stretches out a hand to teens who feel alone and assures them that they’ll find friends who will fight for them, even if it means facing down the dead.” —Andrew Joseph White, New York Times bestselling author of Hell Followed with Us
“A wholly original ghost story filled with secrets—the kind we keep from each other, and the kind we keep from ourselves. Alex Crespo's trio of unlikely friends ground the story with their tangible love, making Saint Juniper's Folly unputdownable and entirely stunning.” —Sasha Peyton Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Witch Haven
“The perfect combination of the things of my nightmares, coming of age in a small town, difficult legacy, and first love. Terrifying, suspenseful, and emotional, led by characters who have my entire heart, this book is a must-read for everyone!” —Jonny Garza Villa, author of Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun
“Saint Juniper’s Folly is the type of book that would’ve had me staying up late to read on a school night. Alex Crespo pulls on every single heartstring while weaving a uniquely magical story that is equal parts haunting and touching. Through Jaime, Theo, and Taylor, teens get characters to relate to and root for, and the romance is an absolute knockout. Alex Crespo injects new life into the YA paranormal genre with this stunning debut.” —S. Isabelle, author of The Witchery
“I asked the universe for a beautifully written story of a haunting set In The Middle Of Nowhere that was equal parts heartwarming and heart-stopping with lots of family baggage, brujería, reluctant besties, and slow-burn romance. Alex Crespo’s Saint Juniper’s Folly is the answer!” —Amparo Ortiz, Author of Last Sunrise in Eterna.
“Set in an atmospheric town where the characters are haunted by a mysterious ghost as well as themselves, Saint Juniper’s Folly shows the beautiful power of finding connection in the unlikeliest of places. A gorgeous queer debut that’s as eerie as it is endearing.” —Racquel Marie, author of Ophelia After All
2023-03-14
Teens save themselves from a haunted house.
Jaime Alvarez-Shephard, Theo Miller, and Taylor Rivera Bishop all live in small-town Vermont. Jaime is newly returned to picture-perfect Saint Juniper; he lived there as a child but ended up in foster care after his unstable family left 8 years ago. Privileged White boy Theo chafes under his overbearing father but finds solace volunteering at the library. Taylor, with a stern Boricua father and a recently dead White mother who was descended from local witches, lives above her family’s occult shop in Wolf’s Head, the slightly scrappier town next door. All feel hemmed in by Saint Juniper’s Folly, a densely wooded region that’s been the subject of fear and rumor for generations. The alternating three-person point of view follows Theo and Taylor as they discover that biracial White-passing Jaime, whose father was Mexican, is trapped by an invisible barrier inside the crumbling and definitely haunted Blackwood Estate, which may be connected to Taylor’s mom’s death. Part romance, part story of new friendship, part family history, this story never fully relaxes into itself, and the pace of the storytelling flip-flops between rushed and overly expository. Readers who enjoy watching a queer love story unfold amid peril will enjoy that aspect of this otherwise middling debut.
Earnest but unmemorable. (Supernatural. 13-17)
Giordan Diaz, Mark Sanderlin, and Victoria Villarreal balance the high-energy emotions of young love with gut-wrenching fear in this coming-of-age thriller. When Jaime is trapped in a dilapidated house that is haunted by an overprotective spirit, he resigns himself to the end--that is, until Theo and Taylor are drawn to the house. For Theo, meeting Jaime is a chance to do something uncharacteristically bold. For Taylor, it's an opportunity to unearth magical family secrets. The three form a fast bond and work together to free Jaime from the ghost's clutches. While Diaz and Sanderlin deftly navigate the emotional ups and downs of budding queer love, Villarreal's performance anchors the story, bringing depth to an otherwise light plot. A.A.H. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Giordan Diaz, Mark Sanderlin, and Victoria Villarreal balance the high-energy emotions of young love with gut-wrenching fear in this coming-of-age thriller. When Jaime is trapped in a dilapidated house that is haunted by an overprotective spirit, he resigns himself to the end--that is, until Theo and Taylor are drawn to the house. For Theo, meeting Jaime is a chance to do something uncharacteristically bold. For Taylor, it's an opportunity to unearth magical family secrets. The three form a fast bond and work together to free Jaime from the ghost's clutches. While Diaz and Sanderlin deftly navigate the emotional ups and downs of budding queer love, Villarreal's performance anchors the story, bringing depth to an otherwise light plot. A.A.H. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
