Hey everyone! It’s Monday 😦 Back to school and back to work. At least you guys get a book review! This book is for ages 4-6 but can really be read by anyone. This is such a touching story. I hope you’ll give it a read!
Name: Hour of The Bees
Author: Lindsey Eagar
# of pages: 360
My Rating: 6/5 stars (I loved this book a lot!)
Goodreads Rating:4.3/5 stars
Amazon Rating: 4.9/5 stars
Amazon Summary:
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.
In my last book review I started including real reviews by real people. The reviews were from Amazon and Goodreads. All the people featured got 1000% copyright for their review/comment. I didn’t get any feedback about it good or bad so I will continue including it. I will of course stop if people start not liking it.
Amazon and Goodreads Real Reader Reviews!
Nicole M. Otting- “This book is one of those stories that reaches out and grabs your attention right from the beginning. This book covers so many potential connections to its readers. Dementia, grandparents, family dynamics, distance, love, and story telling.” 5 star review
Annette Lamb- “While her friends are enjoying the summer, Carolina is visiting her grandfather’s ranch in the desert. In this desolate setting, Carolina gains a new perspective on her family heritage and connections with the land through her grandfather’s stories.
Aimed at middle school youth, librarians will find an audience among children who enjoy realistic fiction along with a touch of magical realism. Fans of Pam Muñoz Ryan and Laura Resau are likely to enjoy the connections to Mexican cultural heritage. Multi-generational themes have been popular this year and this title is an outstanding example.” 5 star review.
Luna- “Carol (or Carolina) and her family are spending the summer cleaning and clearing up her grandfather’s sheep farm (ranch?) so he can be moved into a care home. Her grandfather and father did not part on good terms and there are many things in her family’s past that Carol does not know.
Hour of the Bees is worth sticking with. I personally didn’t really connect with the story until quite a bit into the book. I think it was around the time Carol’s grandfather began telling the first part of his story, the ‘once upon a time, there was a tree’. It’s then that the magic and reality begin to mix and you begin to wonder, just like Carol, if her grandfather is telling you real history or his lost in his dementia.
I particularly liked Carol’s relationship with her grandfather, but also how the dynamics within her family changed as the summer ended and how Carol grew as a character.“
Charlene- “If you like fantasy fiction or have students/kids who do I’d reccomed this book. I am not a big fantasy fiction reader. I was unable to read the complete the book. This is Eagar’s first novel. She tells the story of a young girl, who spends the summer on a hot ranch with her family. The goal is to pack up Grandpa Serge and move him into a home. The ranch is going through a drought and Serge is waiting for the bees to bring the water back and some how Carolena knows that it is true. I had a hard time following chapters written in the present and chapters flashing back to Serge’s life with hs love Rosa in a village where people don’t grow old and they don’t die.”
My Thoughts:
This was such a great book! I admit there were parts where I wasn’t too connected but Grandpa Serge’s amazing story telling made up for it! It was interesting to see what happened to Serge when he slipped away from reality for a bit because of dementia. The book really helped me see how hard it is for the person with dementia and their family. It was definitely unrealistic at times but that just made the story even better. I was honestly crying a bit at the end. So much happens at once that I couldn’t handle the emotion around it. This is an amazing book. What makes it even better is that this is Lindsay Eagar’s first book! She is such an amazing author. I definitely recommend this book!
Phew, that was a long review! Kudos to you if you stuck around till the end. I hope this review made you want to read Hour of the Bees. It will definitely keep you reading till the end.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more book reviews!
~Makayla the Bookworm 😀
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