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Journey
Meggie spearheads an investigation into the mysterious disappearances and murders of young people in her town, discovering a plot to rob others of their youth in a horrifying way.
153 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1988
About the author
Joyce Carol Thomas
39 books29 followersJoyce Carol Thomas was an internationally renowned author who received the National Book Award for her first novel, Marked By Fire, and a Coretta Scott King Honor for her first picture book, Brown Honey In Broomwheat Tea. Her other titles include I Have Heard Of A Land, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book; The Gospel Cinderella; cCrowning Glory; Gingerbread Days; and A Gathering Of Flowers. Ms. Thomas lived in Berkeley, California.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 25, 2020
Teenage girl Meggie investigates the disappearances of some local teenagers only to find out she is the next target.
I enjoyed Thomas's writing style and there are some beautiful and evocative descriptions throughout. There is a fantasy or magical realism element here involving spiders which I thought was really interesting and unique. I wouldn't necessarily class this as strictly horror but there are some horror elements along with some more fantastical ideas. It also features important themes of family, friendship and the black experience.
Also, can we please take a moment to appreciate this beautiful cover by Paul Davis!
I enjoyed Thomas's writing style and there are some beautiful and evocative descriptions throughout. There is a fantasy or magical realism element here involving spiders which I thought was really interesting and unique. I wouldn't necessarily class this as strictly horror but there are some horror elements along with some more fantastical ideas. It also features important themes of family, friendship and the black experience.
Also, can we please take a moment to appreciate this beautiful cover by Paul Davis!
September 6, 2025
Loved it. It's a strange story, but I loved spending time with the author as she was telling it.
This Dreamwidth entry describes my impressions more.
This Dreamwidth entry describes my impressions more.
August 3, 2024
I have a lot of thoughts about this powerful and obscure little book, and it's been a while since I've been regularly reading, let alone reviewing, so bear with me.
Journey is a short book, but within its 153 pages, it covers a LOT of ground. So many themes are touched on, everything from preconceptions of age and race to grappling with your faith. I greatly enjoyed the fact that Thomas chose a voice for the story that was so multifaceted, because it allowed space for both the fantastical natural world as well as an accurate representation of a mature teenage mind. The duality that Meggie exhibits as a fifteen year old is so refreshing. She's extremely eloquent and self aware. Conversely, she can be impulsive at times-- exhibiting the clear potential that you can so clearly see in a teenager.
This brings up one of my few complaints with this book: I really, truly wish there was more! We're given intriguing characters in a lush landscape, and as soon as you're comfortable with the family and group dynamics, the story is wrapped up. The pacing did feel a bit off; there was a lot of setup to establish Meggie's character and not a lot of time to actually enjoy that. Really, I can't stress enough how much I was left wanting.
Speaking of wanting-- Scholastic, I'm on my knees here...please reprint this book and do it proper justice!!! I have way more problems with the presentation of this book than it's actual contents! Firstly: for a story as vivid as this, the cover should slap so much harder. That girl looks way older than fifteen and doesn't even have the birthmark on her forehead. There's so much potential for a beautiful cover and I'll draw up ten concept sketches for you RIGHT NOW, FOR FREE. Also, whyyyy did the story have to get spoiled in the blurb on the back?
Okay, a little more off topic: I work in a natural foods store on the east coast, so I have a front row seat to the "granola" lifestyle. It's a very distinct aesthetic, one that's gotten really popular thru mood boards and tiktoks and so on and so forth. I will also say, it's presented as a traditionally white represented aesthetic, like many others (goth, coquette). THIS BOOK is such an excellent example of why that perception is so outdated and inaccurate! Journey is a story that's rich with holistic and earthy undertones. Meggie gathers her strength directly from what the Earth offers her, and this is a prevalent theme throughout the whole book. This detail is intertwined with the other themes of Black culture that are portrayed throughout the book. I know this is a random tangent to gather from this book, and I'm not really qualified to comment on this much, but it was just something that interested me, given my daily experiences.
IN SUMMARY: this was an excellent book to reignite my love of reading and I hope I can keep that going-- I need to fight my phone addiction with every resource available and get back to that 9 year old me that was constantly reading 10 books at once. Might revisit this when more of my thoughts are gathered, but that's all for now.
Journey is a short book, but within its 153 pages, it covers a LOT of ground. So many themes are touched on, everything from preconceptions of age and race to grappling with your faith. I greatly enjoyed the fact that Thomas chose a voice for the story that was so multifaceted, because it allowed space for both the fantastical natural world as well as an accurate representation of a mature teenage mind. The duality that Meggie exhibits as a fifteen year old is so refreshing. She's extremely eloquent and self aware. Conversely, she can be impulsive at times-- exhibiting the clear potential that you can so clearly see in a teenager.
This brings up one of my few complaints with this book: I really, truly wish there was more! We're given intriguing characters in a lush landscape, and as soon as you're comfortable with the family and group dynamics, the story is wrapped up. The pacing did feel a bit off; there was a lot of setup to establish Meggie's character and not a lot of time to actually enjoy that. Really, I can't stress enough how much I was left wanting.
Speaking of wanting-- Scholastic, I'm on my knees here...please reprint this book and do it proper justice!!! I have way more problems with the presentation of this book than it's actual contents! Firstly: for a story as vivid as this, the cover should slap so much harder. That girl looks way older than fifteen and doesn't even have the birthmark on her forehead. There's so much potential for a beautiful cover and I'll draw up ten concept sketches for you RIGHT NOW, FOR FREE. Also, whyyyy did the story have to get spoiled in the blurb on the back?
Okay, a little more off topic: I work in a natural foods store on the east coast, so I have a front row seat to the "granola" lifestyle. It's a very distinct aesthetic, one that's gotten really popular thru mood boards and tiktoks and so on and so forth. I will also say, it's presented as a traditionally white represented aesthetic, like many others (goth, coquette). THIS BOOK is such an excellent example of why that perception is so outdated and inaccurate! Journey is a story that's rich with holistic and earthy undertones. Meggie gathers her strength directly from what the Earth offers her, and this is a prevalent theme throughout the whole book. This detail is intertwined with the other themes of Black culture that are portrayed throughout the book. I know this is a random tangent to gather from this book, and I'm not really qualified to comment on this much, but it was just something that interested me, given my daily experiences.
IN SUMMARY: this was an excellent book to reignite my love of reading and I hope I can keep that going-- I need to fight my phone addiction with every resource available and get back to that 9 year old me that was constantly reading 10 books at once. Might revisit this when more of my thoughts are gathered, but that's all for now.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews