Kidd, S. (2002). The Secret Life of Bees. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
ISBN-10: 0670894065
•Plot Summary
Lily Owens barely remembers her mother, and the day her mother died is just as vague. Lily's father, a brute named T.Ray, had loved Deborah, but turned against Lily because he says she was the one who shot her mother. Since that time, Lily has been taken care of by Rosaleen, a local African-American woman. When Rosaleen decides she is going to vote, the local racists get involved, and Rosaleen is beaten before taken into custody. Determined to escape, Lily springs Rosaleen from the hospital, and the two embark on a journey to Tiburon, South Carolina, where Lily knows her mother escaped when she tried to leave T.Ray prior to her death. While en route, Lily comes across a picture of a black Mary, one like her mother owned. She asks the storekeeper about the honey bottle on which the picture is attached, and the pair go to the Pepto-Bismol pink house owned by August Boatwright. When they arrived, August's sister (June), is immediately suspicious. Their sister May, who turns out to be mentally unstable due to the death of her twin years before, is completely inviting, as is August. After speaking with Lily, who claims she is going to Virginia to look for her aunt and offering to do work for some money to get there, it's established that both Rosaleen and Lily with remain to help. August teaches Lily everything she knows about bees, and Lily becomes friends with an African-American teen (Zach) who is later arrested when the authorities think he is responsible for throwing a bottle at a white man, breaking his nose. The family, Lily, and Rosaleen decide to keep the news from May, but when she finds out, she goes to her wall where normally she scripts her troubles down, and then places the pieces of paper into the wall to recover. This time, she doesn't recover, and her remains are found. Lily is told the story about how the Black Madonna came into the lives of the group, about how the figure (a ship's figurehead) had washed up on the shore when the slaves sent up their prayers for aid. Zach is released finally, although it it too late for May, and he is not quite the same individual that Lily had developed an attachment to through their hours alone with the bees. August relays to Lily the story of her mother, who August's mother had taken care of as a child, and about how Deborah had fled T.Ray before. she gives Lily the few remaining objects Deborah left behind, and when T.Ray comes to claim Lily, August talks him out of it. Lily runs to his truck to say goodbye, despite the years of abuse T.Ray exposed her to, because she knows it was because of her mother not loving him any longer. August, June, and their friends help one another in raising Lily, she attends school, and retains her connection to the Madonna.
•Critical Evaluation
Sad, but warming story about a young girl's desire to find out about her mother after years of abuse and neglect. The elements of the Black Madonna's influence on the lives of the Boatwrights and their friends, is inspiring.
•Reader’s Annotation
Written for adults, thought the main character is a pre-teen. Suitable for tween through adult audiences.
•Information about the author
Sue Monk Kidd grew up in Sylvester, Georgia and did not work toward becoming a writer until she was in her 40s, when she took a graduate course on writing at Emory University. Following this course, she wrote for several small literary publications, and has become well known for her novels and semi memoirs on the topic of mother and daughter relationships.
She has garnered several awards, including two New York Time's Bestseller Awards. The Secret Life of Bees was made into a motion picture in 2008, with several notable actors involved (Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, and Paul Bettany). Kidd now lives in Charleston, SC with her husband, and dog (Lily).
•Genre
Historical Fiction
•Curriculum Ties
History
Government
Social Sciences
•Booktalking Ideas
Race relations in the South, the Civil Rights Movement in America, Black Madonna
•Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 10-12/Ages 15-Adult
•Challenge Issues
N/A
•Why did you include this book in you’re the titles you selected?
Even though the main character is fourteen when the book begins, she grows exponentially, and I wanted to include more multicultural content in my selections.
