Set in a future Australia in a time when there are no bees and children are employed to scramble through the fruit trees with feather wands, like the pear farmers of Hanyuan in China do today. Peony wants to be a bee, a hand pollinator. She's light, fast, and even though she's a year too young, she's going to be the best bee the farm has ever seen...except when you're only 9, it's hard to get everyone around you to go along with your plan. A beautiful and fierce novel for middle grade readers, 'How to Bee' explores an all-too-possible dystopian social landscape with an intensely compelling and original voice.
Bren MacDibble was raised on farms all over New Zealand, so is an expert about being a kid on the land. She now lives in Melbourne with her family and a cheeky dog, works with gifted children, and teaches writing in further education. She particularly loves science fiction. 'How to Bee' is Bren's first children's novel to be available in the UK.
Title: How to Bee
Author: Bren MacDibble
ISBN: 9781910646441
Binding:
Publisher: Old Barn Books
Publication Date: 2018-05-03
Number of Pages: 224
Weight: 0.2401 kg
Quirky, original and heartfelt, this is an all too plausible dystopian adventure, exploring themes of family loyalty and the environment. -- Fiona Noble * The Bookseller *
'How to Bee' is a moving, intelligent novel, offering plenty of food for thought and a cast of appealing- and not so appealing - characters which linger with you long after the story is finished... -- Sue Wilsher * North Somerset Teachers' Book Award blog *
MacDibble writes with confidence and ease - the book feels different, atypical, which makes it shine brightly in the field of current children's fiction. It turns out being is a complicated business, but with books such as this, children will buzz with excitement about their ability to influence their own futures. -- Claire Zinkin * MinervaReads blog *
'How to Bee' is perfect. It gave me the same shivers as 'Skellig'. Not a word is wasted and the voice is compelling. This is a future classic. -- Louise Nettleton * Bookmurmuration blog *
This story, set in a dystopian landscape, reminds us of the vital role played by the bees that we take so much for granted, but there is even more to the story than environmental issues. We see extreme poverty and domestic violence but also courage and the ultimate insignificance of material comforts when compared to the love of friends and family. -- Jan Lennon * Carousel magazine *