Book Blab @ Stevenson H. S.

Review by: Tori Daul

Lockowitz – Period 3

I read the book The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. This story was set in South Carolina in the 1960s, was racism was brutal. Lily Owens lived with her father, T.Ray on a peach farm. Her mother died when she was a little girl, and Lily had few memories of her; gloves, a picture of her, and a picture of a black Mary with the words “Tiburon, South Carolina” written on the back. Because of her mother’s death, T. Ray hired a maid, Rosaleen, who is the only one who truly cared for Lily. One day when Rosaleen and Lily go out into the town together, the biggest racists in town stop and act rude to them. They get in a fight, and Rosaleen gets beaten. Lily knows she needs to break Rosaleen out of the hospital she’s in for her injuries and go to Tiburon, South Carolina to find out any information possible about her mother, and to get away from T.Ray. While they reach the town of Tiburon, they stop into a store to get food. Lily finds a picture of the same black Mary that she has gotten from her mother. The black Mary is on a honey jar that reads “Black Madonna Honey” on it. She asks where the honey comes from and her and Rosaleen find the honey maker’s house. Their names are August, June, and May Boatwright. Lily and Rosaleen lie about their lives, and live and work for them. She helps August and Zack with the honey. Zack also works for Lily too. Everything was great until tragic things started to kick in. Read this book to find out what happens to Lily, Rosaleen, Zack, T.Ray, and the Boatwright girls.

I would rate this book a 9 out of 10. I thought it was really good and I liked the story, but some things could have been speeded up a bit. My favorite character is Lily Owens, because she is adventurous and helping to others. She is a round character because she matures and changes constantly throughout the book. August is a round-flat character because her personality and thoughts don’t change, but she changes a couple things because of the tragic things that have happened all at once. June is a round character because her personality changes a lot. She used to not be open to meeting any other people, but know she seems fine. May is a flat character. She still acts strangely and barely changes. Rosaleen and Zack are also round flat, just like August. Their personalities and likes and dislikes changes throughout the story. The theme of this story I would say is hope and strength. It is hope because the characters need hope and strength to get through the hard times.