good - Katrina

Nine-year-old Justice, who everyone calls "Juice," is having a hard time. She can't read, so school is hard, so she usually just skips and stays home with her out-of-work father - who is also illiterate. Her mother is a diabetic, and is pregnant with a fifth child. Justice is the second of the four girls they already have. They are so poor, they struggle to have enough to eat, and to make matters worse, because they haven't been able to pay their property taxes in over two years, the government is likely taking their home. Juice guides her depressed and inadequate-feeling father to a path where he might be able to save at least some things, but by doing so, she is skipping school even more. And her mother, the more competent parent, has been kept in the dark about the tax issue, so she wouldn't worry so much that the baby she is carrying might suffer.
A very quick read, this book never feels as depressing as the plot description makes it sound. The sisters are mainly background characters, as the likable, but sad Juice, carrying the weight of the family on her shoulders, tells the story. ( )

I love Karen Hesse's stories. So heartfelt and with a strong voice. ( )

This book details the economic struggles Juice's family works to overcome as well as her personal academic struggles. I would read this book to my class to let them know that it is okay to struggle in both life and school and that with hard work and perserverance, you can overcome just about anything. I enjoyed reading this book as a kid, but reading it as a future teacher gave me a different perspective and insight that I did not previously have. ( )

Letters and numbers still don't make sense to Juice Faulstich. She'd rather skip school and spend the day at home in the North Carolina hills, anyway. But when the bank threatens to repossess her family's home, Juice faces her first life-sized problem. Just Juice is a book with many different levels to the story. Ultimately, her siblings tried to help her learn how to read and they agree that all the kids must go to school.This book a good starting point for discussing learning disabilities and what we can do to help ourselves and others overcome them, or manage them. This book would fit in well with a text-set on learning disabilities.