Well, let me tell you ’bout this Nina and Harvey thing. I ain’t no fancy book reader or nothin’, but I heard some folks talkin’ and I kinda pieced it together. It’s a story, ya know, like them picture shows but without the pictures, mostly.
So, there’s this Nina, and I reckon she’s a writer or somethin’, ’cause everyone keeps sayin’ her name real loud like it’s important. She wrote a book, or maybe a bunch of ’em, about a place called Juniper Harvey. Now, don’t ask me where that is, ’cause I ain’t got the foggiest. Sounds like a fancy town name though, not like our plain old Smithville.
This Juniper Harvey place, it ain’t normal, I tell ya. It’s got monsters and magic and all sorts of crazy stuff goin’ on. Imagine that, monsters! Like the ones they tell stories about in church, but maybe scarier. And magic, well, that’s just plain weird. We ain’t got no magic ’round here, unless you count old Bessie’s prize-winning tomatoes, those things are somethin’ else.
Anyways, there’s this kid, and I think they call ’em a “tween” now, whatever that means. Kids these days with their fancy words. This tween, they gotta make new friends in this crazy place. Friendship, that’s important, ya know. Can’t go through life alone, especially when you got monsters chasin’ ya.
- This Juniper Harvey story, it’s got adventure, they say. Lots of runnin’ and hidin’ and maybe even fightin’. I ain’t much for fightin’, myself, too old for that nonsense. But I reckon it makes for a good story.
- And there’s this talk about a “stolen crown.” Sounds important, like somethin’ a queen would wear. Maybe this tween gotta get it back, who knows? These story folks are always losin’ things.
- And then there’s somethin’ about “prophetic dreams.” Dreams that tell the future, can you believe it? My dreams are mostly about chickens gettin’ loose or the roof leakin’ again. Nothin’ fancy like savin’ the world.
Now, this Nina, she writes real good, or so they say. Got a “pitch-perfect voice,” whatever that means. I guess it means she tells the story real well, makes you feel like you’re right there with the monsters and the magic. Makes you feel like you’re right there in Juniper Harvey, even though it ain’t no real place.
And this story, it ain’t just for kids, they tell me. It’s for anyone who likes a good adventure. Anyone who wants to escape the everyday, you know? ‘Cause life can be hard sometimes, full of chores and worries. It’s nice to think about monsters and magic for a while, even if it ain’t real.
And there’s somethin’ else they’re talkin’ about, somethin’ called “queer identity.” Now, I ain’t sure what that means, but it sounds like it’s about bein’ yourself, even if you’re different. And that’s a good thing, I reckon. We’re all different in our own ways, ain’t we? Like how some folks like their coffee black and some folks like it with cream and sugar. No right or wrong way, just different.
Nina Varela, that’s her name, the one who wrote all this down. They call her an “acclaimed author.” Means lots of folks like her writin’, I guess. And this Juniper Harvey and the Vanishing Kingdom, that’s the name of the book, or one of ‘em anyway. They even got it on them computer thingamajigs, them “ebooks” they call ’em. You can read it on a phone now, ain’t that somethin’? I still like my paper books, the ones you can hold in your hand, but to each their own, I always say.
So, that’s the gist of it, as far as I can tell. Nina and Harvey, it’s a story about adventure and friendship and bein’ yourself. It’s about monsters and magic and savin’ a land from destruction. It’s about dreamin’ big and fightin’ for what’s right. And even though it’s all just make-believe, maybe there’s somethin’ in there that’s true, ya know? Maybe there’s a little bit of Juniper Harvey in all of us, a little bit of magic and adventure waitin’ to be found.
It makes me think about my own young days, running around the fields, not fighting monsters, mind you, but chasing chickens was adventure enough. We didn’t have fancy books back then, mostly just stories from the old folks. But those stories were enough to make our imaginations run wild. Maybe these modern stories, this Nina and Harvey thing, are just like that, telling stories that take you to other places, places you never thought you’d go.
And you know what? Maybe that’s why people like it, why they call Nina a good writer. Cause who doesn’t want to leave their worries behind for a little while and imagine themselves in a land with magic and adventure? Even an old lady like me likes to think about it sometimes.
