This book didn’t work for me. It was ambitious in scope and included many themes that I found engaging but the characters were simply not convincing enough to make it work. I felt I should finish the book assuming that it would eventually win me over but instead the ending seemed to spin out of control and couldn’t seem to stop. Many interesting elements in the book include the southwestern desert in New Mexico, flashbacks to younger and colorful grandparents, Mexican American identity issues, dysfunctional family drama, a grandpa suffering from dementia, an old story with a touch of fantasy, and at the center of it are the bees. I’ll be interested to see how kids respond to it.
Review by Susan Plimpton