Hour of the Bees

What does it mean to be fully alive? Magic blends with reality in a stunning coming-of-age novel about a girl, a grandfather, wanderlust, and reclaiming your roots.

Things are only impossible if you stop to think about them. . . .

While her friends are spending their summers having pool parties and sleepovers, twelve-year-old Carolina -- Carol -- is spending hers in the middle of the New Mexico desert, helping her parents move the grandfather she's never met into a home for people with dementia. At first, Carol avoids prickly Grandpa Serge. But as the summer wears on and the heat bears down, Carol finds herself drawn to him, fascinated by the crazy stories he tells her about a healing tree, a green-glass lake, and the bees that will bring back the rain and end a hundred years of drought. As the thin line between magic and reality starts to blur, Carol must decide for herself what is possible -- and what it means to be true to her roots. Readers who dream that there's something more out there will be enchanted by this captivating novel of family, renewal, and discovering the wonder of the world.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
Published: 03/08/2016
ISBN: 9780763679224
Pages: 368
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.80w x 1.30d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 12/07/2015
Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2016
Voice of Youth Advocates 02/01/2016 - Recommended - Hard To Beat
Booklist 02/01/2016 pg. 41
BookPage 03/01/2016
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 03/01/2016 - Book Of Special Distinction
School Library Journal 03/01/2016 pg. 127
Shelf Awareness 03/08/2016
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2016 - Recommended, Satisfactory

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 182961 / Hour of the Bees
Reading Level: 4.5 / Interest Level: Middle Grade / Point Value: 9