Juniper

My friends and colleagues Kelley and Tom French have written a gripping, passionate account of the premature birth and against-all-odds survival of their daughter, Juniper. Her struggle for life drives the central narrative, but this carefully crafted book is about much more. Kelley and Tom wrestle with fears, doubts and dreams as their daughter is saved repeatedly by a heroic team of nurses and doctors. Juniper, the magnetic core of the book, faces down a barrage of near-death emergencies and inspires a fierce love in her parents’ hearts. The authors confront the ethical and economic implications of their all-out struggle in an age when science has given us unprecedented power over life and death. “Juniper” is a love story: love between mother, father and child; love for friends and relatives who are there in the desperate hours; and love for the doctors and nurses who saved their child’s life.

At times, it was easy to forget that this story was non-fiction. So beautifully written, so touching, I had to remind myself that this was real life, happening to real people. For two people to share their raw emotions, their true selves during this horrifically and terrifying life experience. I'm grateful for them sharing what can happen when you surrender to the unknown. We all want to control everything, of course, we do, especially with regards to our children. But we can't. And that is often the worst party. Jumpin' Juniper is a testament to the feisty will from within that we can never predict. Thank goodness for the amazing doctors and nurses who held them all up. They are heroes. What Juniper will do? Who knows. The boundaries are limitless.

I didn't expect to like this, but I read it for the book club. The parents are painfully honest, and admit right off that they are flawed -- but then aren't we all? At first I didn't like the father, but he rose to the occasion, while the mom pulled away -- granted it was a painful situation, but I just wanted to smack her at some point, and tell her to pull herself together. Lots of detail about premies, and what they go through, also the emotional roller coaster the parents are on. Very well written, you can't help but get emotionally involved with little Juniper.

I absolutely LOVE this book! I initially heard the Frenches when they read excerpts of the story on NPR. Despite reaching my destination I couldn't leave the car until they had finished. As a former journalist, a mother who has spent 8 weeks in NICU and a special education teacher, I can relate to so many of the questions pondered by Kelley and Tom. The writing is excellent and the story mesmerizing. I couldn't put the book down. Just a few days ago my daughter, once a preemie and now a freshman at Indiana University, called to say she was in Kelley French's journalism class and had met Juniper. That was all the motivation I needed to read the story again!

Juniper French’s story would be poignant, inspiring, and often excruciating no matter how you heard it. But when it is told with the courage and exquisite grace of her gifted parents, both award-winning writers, it will wring frequent tears and many grateful smiles from every reader. Born four months early on the edge of life and death, this 1 lb. 4 oz. mini-heroine defied all the fearful predictions that medical professionals felt were her poor odds of survival. At every step, her parents prayed, cried, agonized, and supported each other through crisis after crisis, while dozens of dedicated professionals struggled to keep her alive at St. Petersburg’s All Children’s Hospital. Told with love, gratitude, and beautifully modulated voices, this is a story that must not be missed.

This is real for so many of us. A world away from our regular everyday life. No mom wants to be there but we are very thankful this hope exists.

I love this book so much that I have done none of the things I was supposed to do this afternoon. I have laughed and cried at the same time. I have raced ahead to find out what would happen next and then scrolled back a dozen screens to reread an amazing sentence. The fact that I know this story in real life and read about it in the Tampa Bay Times has not hindered or heightened my pleasure. It is just earth-shakingly beautiful. Period. It's about parenting, sure, but also about what partnership becomes in the face of hardship, and, most fundamentally, about how we (this means us individually but also institutionally) talk about a meaningful life.

The writing in here wasn't bad - in fact, there were some rather fresh insights into what's actually kind of become a commonplace story (preemie fighting for survival etc) - but for some reason I came away from the book with a rather unpleasant taste in my mouth. Sure, they very luckily had extraordinary insurance ($400 co-pay for a preemie's care?) but otherwise the story dripped with privilege: the privilege to pursue fertility treatments, find an egg donor all on their own, and jobs that allowed them to spend all the time needed at their daughter's bedside. They may some references to the less fortunate parents they see, but in the epilogue there seems to be an almost smug summing up of "how much better preemies do with family involvement." It's a well-written story, but it's not all that new and I didn't find the parents' personalities and responses really enough to distinguish this book from a lot of other preemie survival tales.

Beautifully written from intense life experience by two gifted writers. I Laughed I cried------their situation was very similar to my nieceand her husband's

Could not put this down! I read the whole thing over a 24 hour period. Beautiful and thought provoking.

Astonishing writing. Thank you for telling the story that I could never write myself. My experience is different in so many ways but the exact same in all the ways that count. I can feel an almost evangelical urge to force people to read this so they 'get it'. Thank you.

Fab story.....very emotional...they took us every step of the way with them! Go Juniper! Such a strong little girl full of magic!

ExcellentXmas gift!!