Author Q&A: ‘Juniper Lemon’s Happiness Index’ explores sisterhood and loss

For Juniper Lemon, the start of her junior year of high school should be an exciting time. Instead she’s mourning her older sister, who died in a car accident over the summer. Then she discovers her sister had a secret – a secret that sends Juniper off in unexpected directions.

That’s the opening for Portland author Julie Israel’s debut novel, a young-adult story titled “Juniper Lemon’s Happiness Index” (Kathy Dawson Books, 352 pages, $17.99).

Israel launches the book this weekend with a scavenger hunt featuring items from the book,  such as gummy bears and Dala horse toys. “Anyone from anywhere in the world can play by finding something from the list and sharing a picture of whatever they find with the hashtag #JuniperIRL, for Juniper In Real Life,” Israel said. Portlanders who join the hunt can find Israel from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 4, at the Brewery Blocks Starbucks, 1039 N.W. Couch St. “Anyone who finds five items from the list can come find me and show me pictures and get a small prize,” she said.

Israel talked with The Oregonian/OregonLive recently about the book; here are excerpts from the conversation.

Q: Why did you want to write a young-adult novel?

A. For one thing, I think that it’s probably the age group that I identify most with in some ways. For another … because everyone has those coming-of-age experiences, I think anyone can really find themselves in a young adult novel and connect with the characters and what they go through.

I will turn 29 this summer. In order to get my start writing, I really had to rely on a lot of support from my parents. I think I really identify with the teen mindset in that way. And also maybe because I have fun on social media with Tumblr and Twitter and that kind of thing.

Q: What inspired this book?

A: “Juniper” was a bit unusual in that it actually started with the title. I’d been working on something else when one day the phrase “Juniper Lemon’s Happiness Index” just kind of surfaced. It really grabbed me and it was colorful and fun and immediately raised questions and really, as soon as I started pulling at it, all of these layers started unfolding.

I knew right away that despite the pep of the title, Juniper was not happy, and I wondered why and thought, well, what if she had lost someone? What if she had lost a sister? And then how would she find happiness again, or some kind of closure? And it really just followed from there.

Q: Do you have a sister?

A: I am a middle sister. My lifetime experience as a sister really was an influencing force for this book.

Q: What do you think moved you to write about loss?

A: The grief part wasn’t so much a conscious decision as it was where I felt the story fell naturally and I just ran with it.

Q: All of Juniper’s friends in this book have suffered their own losses in some way or have their own secrets. How much of that was intentional when you created the characters and how much of that just happened organically?

A: One of the running themes in this book was I wanted Juniper to come to see that really everyone has some side of themselves that they don’t show to the world. I wanted Juniper to work towards being able to accept that her sister had this huge secret that she had never shared with her, and that learning that other people have these things that they didn’t talk about and share with the world would help her come to a place of acceptance with that.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from this book?

A: There is this quote that has always stuck with me that I feel really captures the heart of Juniper. It is: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” So again, there’s that theme of, we all have private sides of ourselves that we don’t show to the world. As often as not, those sides can be a painful thing: struggles, secrets, grief, guilt, pain, what-have-you. But Juniper’s actions embody what I hope will be a takeaway, which is that kindness is free and although we may never completely know the people around us, we can be supportive and warm and welcoming to all we meet and maybe quietly improve their lives a little.