IMWAYR?

Hi all you book lovers & fellow “Lit Mates”, guess what I was able to do? Yup I listened to an audio book for pleasure! & after that I watched the movie. I had no idea that I would be able to blog about my leisure read but here goes as my Choice Meme blog post for week 15 in children’s lit.

The Secret Life of Bees

by Sue Monk Kidd

Book Sense Book of the Year Award for Paperback (2004), Abraham Lincoln Award Nominee (2005), Missouri Gateway Readers Award Nominee (2005)

This is a young adult fiction story that has multiple themes.  One is life as an African American in the era before blacks were afforded their right to vote and the other is the life an abused white girl who has been blamed for the death of her mother.  The story takes place in South Carolina 1964 and begins to soar when Lily and her stand in (black) mother Rosaleen, find themselves running from the law and the abuse of T-Rey, Lily’s father.  The main character is Lily Owens who attends school & works for her father, it is when she goes to town with Rosaleen that her life gets worse.  Rosaleen is on her way to register as a voter finds trouble with a group of white men, she spits on them, in return they beat Rosaleen and she is imprisoned in a hospital.  Lily knows that Rosaleen with will be killed if she remains in town and she is also aware that without Rosaleen she will be unable to endure the cruelness of her father. All this leaves her to bust out Rosaleen from the authorities and run away to an unknown place to Tiburoun, S. Carolina.

Lily has made Tiburon her destination because she has nowhere else to go accept a place where on a map she has identified this town a place where someone might know her mother and she dares to image someone there may care for her.

What she finds in Tiburon is most unexpected, she is drawn to three sisters who live and work on a bee farm and harvest honey. She and Rosaleen are welcomed into a new world of culture and peace. Soon Lily finds out that yes indeed the sisters recognize her as her mother’s replica. Lily over time is able to regain love for herself and understand that she has more mothers and love than she could ever hope for.  Her father causes some commotion near the end of the book but the women stand as a formidable loving force and Lily is kept safe.

This story is told from the perspective of a young 13-year-old; however, it is a mature read and not appropriate for in school reading.

The Plot was extremely well crafted as it is woven with race, culture, religion and love.  Tension is felt through the story because of her father bizarre behavior as well as the segregation that was breaking down in the southern states.

From the authors perspective, I felt a multitude of emotions from the beginning to end of the story.  It was as if the author had so much compassion for the story that writing the story was the only way heal.

If you read over your Thanksgiving holiday I look forward to you sharing your book(s) review here.