The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Reviewed by Rita Scott

• The Secret Life of Bees is a book about Lily Owens, a young girl from South Carolina. It takes place back when the south was racially divided. Lily lives with her very mean dad, T-Ray and Rosaleen, her nanny who is black. Her mother was killed when she was younger. Lily’s father owns a peach farm so Lily spends a lot of time helping take care of it. When Rosaleen gets in trouble for insulting some guys, Lily decides to get her and leave home to go to Tiburon, South Carolina, a town that she thinks might help her find out about her mom. They end up staying at the home of 4 black sisters who take care of honey bees.
• I liked how while Lily was at the bee house, August took care of her but she didn’t baby her, she made her learn how to take care of herself and do things on her own. My favorite character was Rosaleen. I liked her sarcasm and she was a very strong person even though she was treated badly because of racism. I think my favorite part of the book was when Lily writes the letter to her dad. She tells him that she knows he never cared about her and how she always tried to be nice to him but that she doesn’t know why she even tried. In the letter she spells out what daddy means to her and she says really insulting things. It was one of those "ha in your face" moments.
• I learned how determined a person can be when they really try.