Gr 3-6--Junebug is the story of risks taken and goals achieved by a small nuclear family struggling against a harsh environment. Nearly 10-year-old Reeve McClain, Jr. (Junebug) says, ``For my birthday wish I would like to sail a boat.'' Hardly an ordinary request for a black kid living in the projects of New Haven. Especially since the other big topics on the boy's mind are how to avoid the pressure to join a gang, the sense of abandonment once his 16-year-old friend flees town to escape a drug lord, and ways he can help make his mother's tough life a little easier. The characters are fresh and vivid: self-involved, fast-traveling Aunt Jolita; little sister, Tasha, remarkably sensitive and shy; and Mama, who finally steps off the treadmill of daily survival when her job provides a chance to move away. Junebug himself is quite clear about who he is and where he should be going. Told in the first person, the narrative is immediate and casual, the setting starkly revealed. The book is engaging and suspenseful, with enough scary characters and situations to keep most readers engrossed. The youngster, by the way, gets his wish in the end via a message placed in each of 50 bottles and set to sea. The ultimate message, however, is that change is possible when responsibility is an individual obligation. Mead's writing approaches the power of Walter Dean Myers's novels about inner-city life, but is for a younger audience.--Carolyn Noah, Central Mass. Regional Library System, Worcester, MA

Reeve McClain, Jr.Junebughas a dream of one day escaping the decrepit housing project in which he, little sister Tasha, and his mother are forced to live, a dream in which he's a ship's captain, sailing free. But he's a realist, too, and knows that when he turns ten in two weeks he'll be fair game for the drug dealers, gangs, and guns that are an integral part of the projects, so he launches a plan to help his dream come true. While Mama works at a nursing home job, Aunt Jolita is supposed to watch out for Junebug and Tasha in exchange for room and board. But Jolita has a knack for doing the wrong thing; when she takes up with a man Mama doesn't like, the sisters' confrontation results in Mama's getting badly injured. Junebug copes first with the ambulance and then with taking care of himself and Tasha until his mother is released from the hospital. How he accomplishes this and still pulls off the birthday plan makes for a warm and inspiring tale of an indomitable boy who refuses to let the harshness of his situation destroy all hope for a better future. Mead (Crossing the Starlight Bridge, 1994) has stores of affection for her wonderful characters. Readers will be rooting for Junebug and his dreams all the way. (Fiction. 8-12)"

Junebug approaches his tenth birthday with fear because he knows he'll be forced by the older boys in his housing project to join a gang. On his birthday, with luck and persistence, Junebug realizes his secret dream of one day sailing a boat. The novel contains vivid descriptions of the grim realities of inner-city life but also demonstrates that strong convictions and warm hearts can bring about change.