The Secret Life of Bees

by Sue Monk Kidd

Assignment: #6 of narrative annotations
Publication info.: Viking, 2002. 320 p.
Genre & Format: Contemporary Fiction; Novel

Awards/Reviews: Booklist and SLJ

Grades: 8 and up

Summary: Fourteen-year-old Lily, and Rosaleen, the black woman who has helped to raise her, go on a journey to both escape and look for the past. Lily is looking to find clues about her mother that was killed in her presence when she was just four, and running from her abusive father. Rosaleen gets sprung from the jail for sassing back to a white supremacist in town—and after all, this is the sixties in South Carolina and the Civil Rights Act is very new. The two end up at the house of three black women who keep bees and make honey, where they are taken in; graciously for the most part. It is a story of female friendships and the coming of age of a girl.

Comments: It is a nice quick read that still has a lot of substance. The mystic quality of the Southern Black culture weaves a tale of intrigue and truth. The development does not feel forced, but rather unfolds for you. I passed the book on to my mom when I finished it—it is one of those pass around kind of books.

Booktalking ideas: A beekeepers helmet might be a bit much, but it could be fun. Maybe connect the abused, motherless girl that touches a lot of buttons with kids.

VOYAesque Rating: 5Q 4P