The Secret Life of Bees

I read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd years ago and was just thinking about it the other day and decided to re-read it. It is the story of Lily Owens in the 1960s in South Carolina. Lily, whose mother died in an accident when she was young, lives with her cruel father and her housekeeper Rosaleen. When Rosaleen gets in trouble with the law, Lily takes her chance to get away, and the two escape. Following the only clue Lily has about her mother's past, Lily and Rosaleen head to Tiburon, South Carolina and meet the Boatwright sisters. As Lily learns the ways of beekeeping with the Boatwrights, she slowly opens up and finds ways to let her heart heal.

This is a beautiful book. The only downside is that it has quite a bit of bad language in it. But the story made me smile, made me cry. The author's writing is so beautiful and powerful that you feel a part of the story and that you know the characters personally. The book also helps you see the serious racial tensions of the 1960s from the characters' perspectives. I loved Lily in this book, but I also loved August (one of the Boatwright sisters). Her life of compassion, wisdom, and love inspires me to just be more caring and thoughtful.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)



The quote from this book that I remembered from last time I read it, which recently came to my mind and encouraged me to re-read the book. A conversation between August and Lily:

   "You know, some things don't matter that much, Lily. Like the color of a house. How big is that in the overall scheme of life? But lifting a person's heart--now that matters. The whole problem with people is--"
   "They don't know what matters and what doesn't," I said, filling in her sentence and feeling proud of myself for doing so.
   "I was gonna say, The problem is they know what matters, but they don't choose it. You know how hdd that is, Lily? The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters."

Rules

I saw Rules by Cynthia Lord on the shelf at Emmeline's school library when I was volunteering and realized that I'd never read it even though I've seen it around many times. This book is about 12-year-old Catherine who has a younger brother with autism. She spends lots of time teaching David "rules" to try to deal with some of his embarrassing behaviors. Over the summer, she meets Jason, a friend at her brother's therapy, and Kristi, the new next-door-neighbor-best-friend she's always dreamed of, and she begins to learn a lot about herself.

This was a good read. I really love books that have characters with special needs because I just think it's nice to see things from a different perspective. I liked the characters in this story but almost wish some of the book was a little deeper. I also felt like it concluded a little....inconclusively. But parts of the book were very endearing. It was a quick, engaging read.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)


Here is a list some favorite books I've read with characters with disabilities or special needs.

• Out of My Mind by Sharon M Draper
• Rain Reign by Ann M. Bartin
• Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
• Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
• Al Capone Does My Shirts series by Gennifer Choldenko

Roller Girl

I've started working on reading the 2016 Newbery winners, and Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson was one of the honor winners. It is a graphic novel about 12-year-old Astrid who goes to a roller derby bout with her mom and a friend and realizes that she has found something she will love. Roller derby camp ends up not being as easy as she expected, and things begin changing with her friends. The inside of the dust jacket reads, "There are bumps and bruises as Astrid learns who she is...and what it takes to be a strong, tough roller girl."

I really loved this book. I think it made it even better that a year or two ago, I went to a roller derby bout because my friend/neighbor plays roller derby. The story was engaging, the characters--especially Astrid--were real and believable, the pictures were descriptive and expressive, etc. I just loved the progression of the story as well as the life lessons Astrid learned about friendship and endurance. Normally I don't love graphic novels because they aren't long enough to engage me or they feel choppy, but this one was awesome. I'm a fan.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)