THE QUEEN OF JUNK ISLAND
MAY 3, 2022
From debut author Alexandra Mae Jones comes a compelling, nuanced exploration of bi identity and body image with a ghostly backdrop—perfect for fans of Nina Lacour.
Still reeling from a recent trauma, sixteen-year-old Dell is relieved when her mom suggests a stay at the family cottage. But the much-needed escape quickly turns into a disaster. The lake and woods are awash in trash left by a previous tenant. And worse, Dell’s mom has invited her boyfriend’s daughter to stay with them. Confident, irreverent Ivy presses all of Dell’s buttons -- somehow making Dell’s shame and self-consciousness feel even more acute. Yet Dell is drawn to Ivy in a way she doesn’t fully understand. As Dell uncovers secrets in the wreckage of her family’s past -- secrets hinted at through troubling dreams and strange apparitions -- Ivy leads her toward thrilling, if confusing, revelations about her sexuality and identity.
Set during a humid summer in the mid-2000s, The Queen of Junk Island simmers with the intensity of a teenage girl navigating the suffocating expectations of everyone around her.
““[...] at its core it is about two difficult girls who understand each other’s strangeness better than anyone else. As Dell excavates family secrets, it’s clear this is also a story about intergenerational love; understanding ghosts, both internal and external; and becoming a person who will allow others to love them.”
Ivy laughed. “God, you’re easy.”
I went very still. “What did you say?”
“That it’s easy to piss you off,” Ivy said. “Another thing your mom didn’t mention. You cannot take a joke. I wasn’t actually going to shove you in the lake, I was just getting back at you for earlier.”
She was standing at the peak of the hill, the lake bright behind her. As we stared at each other, the edges of the thing in the water seemed to stretch out her shoulders, blending with her body until she looked like another part of the landscape. She looked broad enough to be someone else entirely. I could remember Christopher standing in front of me like Ivy was now, except then, he was the one with the camera.
I was suddenly very aware of my body.