Kelley and Tom read Winnie the Pooh and the Harry Potter books to their daughter while she lay in an incubator in a dark room that mimicked a womb, fighting for her life, for 196 days in a St. Petersburg, Florida, hospital. When they weren't reading to her, Tom placed a tiny iPod beside Juniper in the incubator and played the music of Bruce Springsteen, a singer he has loved for almost 40 years.
Tom French said that while she was in that dark incubator, his daughter didn't know there was a whole world out there waiting for her. "She was literally 'waiting on a sunny day.'"
Read moreTwo former Times writers, Pulitzer Prize winner Tom French and his wife, Pulitzer finalist Kelley Benham French, return to talk about the nonfiction book they co-wrote. Juniper: The Girl Who Was Born Too Soon is the remarkable story of their daughter, born a micro-preemie at 23 weeks gestation, weighing only 1 pound, 4 ounces.
Read more“I wanted her to have this record of what she went through and how strong she was and how hard she fought and how many people loved her,” Kelley said. “I wanted her to know what she was at her raw core, because I saw that. I saw how strong she was, and I wanted her to see that too.”
Read moreJuniper French received one M&M for every book she signed Sunday afternoon inside the Barnes and Noble bookstore.
Read more"I probably would have read Juniper in one sitting, but I had to stop because I was crying too hard."
Read moreJuniper French was born four months early, at 23 weeks’ gestation. She weighed just over one pound. She was on the edge of viability — a so-called “micro-preemie.” Several decades ago, she never would have survived. In order to live, she would be constantly hooked up to machines and monitors. If she survives, she might be severely brain damaged. Juniper’s parents — journalists Kelley Benham French and Thomas French — had to decide what they were willing to do to save her or if the greater act of love was to let her go. Guest host Nia-Malika Henderson talks to them about navigating what is medically possible and what is right.
Read more“To call her a miracle is too simplistic,” says her mother, Kelley French, 42. “It was a miracle with a lot of moving pieces.”
Read more"We started to try to build a world for her that was bigger than that box. And we decided that parenting wasn't something we might get to do someday in the future, it was what we were doing right now, and if it was just for an hour, we were going to be the best parents we could be."
Read moreThe Frenches bring an unflinching, exceedingly painful clarity to a story of already excruciating anxiety. In the background, of course, is the reader’s knowledge of the most important truth of the story: Juniper is okay. She is healthy. She is happy. And the story of her birth, four months early, is told with love and brutal honesty, by her parents.
Read moreThis is a gut-wrenching, hope-filled, then hope-dashed, then hope-filled-again book that is very difficult to put down.
Read moreThis tender account is vividly rendered, with husband and wife writing alternating chapters, so the story is told from different perspectives, and in distinct voices, but with a shared energy and urgency.
Read more"... raw, rough and wrenchingly tender."
Read more"Underneath it's just a love letter to my little girl."
Read more"It is a twisting, harrowing, at times painful but powerful memoir, fiercely reported and written with exquisite sensitivity and openness."
Read moreKelley: We’re so different as writers. In the middle of the process, I thought, Why would anyone do this? This is a stupid way to make a living.
Read moreSpeaking with The Globe and Mail, the couple explained what it’s like to parent a micro-preemie – and why saving kids like Juniper is worth every cent.
Read more"A tender, fierce and breathtaking miracle."
Read more"Beautifully written ... it will stay with you long after you finish."
Read moreThis story of resilience and love will curl around your heart, reminding you that even the darkest moments can lead to light.
Read moreMom.me tells Juniper's story after reading the letter she wrote to Olympic gymnast Simone Biles. Watch the video here.
Read more
