Juniper Harvey and the vanishing kingdom by Nina Varela

June (short for Juniper) is not happy about her family's move from Dallas to a tiny, rural town in Florida. She has no friends and no idea how to make any and her best friend back in Texas has ghosted her. To make matters worse, she keeps having a strange nightmare about a girl in a temple, a sword and a statue.

When she gets roped into attending a dance by her outgoing, goofy mother (who wears cowboy boots and plaid shirts on all occasions), she sneaks away to the art room, where she draws pictures of the girl in her dreams and makes a wish... The next morning, she wakes up to find the girl there. In her bedroom. With a sword.

Galatea is a princess of a floating island and has been ruling since her father left to search for their missing goddess. She is desperate to find the missing crown of horns and save her shrinking and dying home and she's not at all happy to find herself dumped into a strange world with an, apparently, useless girl like June. However, she and June will have to team up with a new group of friends, the quirky but friendly Kamaria, Ollie, Sam, and Noah, if they are going to retrieve the broken pieces of the crown, save Galatea's home, and get her back safely.

The story is at turns funny and frightening as June stumbles through making friends, trying to fit in at the tiny middle school, helping Galatea in her quest, and sorting out her own feelings for Galatea. There are thoughtful interjections about not making pre-judgments and a gentle and kind treatment of June's gradual realization that she likes girls. Her parents are supportive, if a little clueless, and the sad and dramatic moments are dealt with quickly without maximizing the angst. The story ends on a happy note, with Galatea figuring out a magical way to visit and, consequently, June enjoying the school's Halloween dance. There is an epilogue that hints at a sequel, with Galatea's long-absent mother showing up to help her search for her missing father and readers are sure to want to know how Juniper gets involved.

From an adult point of view, there's no way a small Florida town would be so casually accepting of Juniper dancing with a girl at the middle school party and her parents were exasperatingly clueless. It was a nice touch not to focus on stereotypical bullies though, showing that Juniper has trouble making friends both because of her own self-consciousness and because the kids have all known each other forever. Galatea's world is based on Greek mythology, but has lots of individual quirks and world-building that make it unique.

Verdict: I'm trying to scale back on purchasing middle grade fantasy, as interest has definitely waned, but this is not too long at around 300 pages, fast-paced and funny, and with excellent characterizations of kids finding their place and the portrayal of a queer character figuring out who she is. Varela has knocked it out of the park on her middle grade debut and I can't wait to hand this to readers and add it to our 5th grade fantasy unit next year.

ISBN: 9780316706780; Published February 2023 by Little Brown Co; Borrowed from another library in my consortium