I first read the Secret Life of Bees because of my freshman English class. I was one of the two girls to read it and I honestly loved it. There are some books that when you get assigned them for summer reading, you drag through it and it takes till the night before school to finish. But, with The Secret Life of Bees, it wasn’t really like that for me. I read this book in about two days and I loved it. One of the things that I really enjoyed about this book is that after I finished, I got to discuss the book with the other girl in my class who read it. We did assignments and activities in class and I appreciated walking through the book and talking about what happened with the other girl. Getting to talk about my opinions and how I viewed the book and hearing what others thought of it is my favorite part of summer reading books. When I really enjoy a book, I really appreciate getting to discuss it with someone and just having a set time to talk through the book and the many details that we noticed. This helped to create a lasting impression on me and made it so I genuinely enjoyed this book.
The Secret Life of Bees is about a young white girl, Lily, who lives in North Carolina during the 1960s with her abusive father, T. Ray and her African American nanny, Rosaleen. Lily’s mother died when she was younger and her father blames her for the death. After Rosaleen gets into trouble for attempting to register to vote, Lily decides that her and Rosaleen need to run away. She finds a picture of black Mary that her mother had owned with Tiburon, S.C. on the back of it. This is how she decides that her and Rosaleen will run away to Tiburon. When getting there, Lily learns that the black Mary picture is the logo for a local honey maker in town. While searching for the honey maker, they stumble upon the Boatwright sisters - August, June, and May - and they take Lily and Rosaleen in and care for them. While there, Lily is taught about beekeeping and her and Rosaleen become staple members of the community. Lily also meets a young black boy, Zach, who’s one of the farmhands. She slowly begins to develop a crush on him. She also begins to grow closer with August Boatwright and begins to see her as a mother. After Zach is arrested for assaulting a white man, tragedy strikes the Boatwright’s and their guest.
If you’re looking for a book to read, this is definitely a must-read! I honestly loved this book and I really suggest people to read it, especially if you’re in high school. If you have any suggestions for books to read or any tips in general, please feel free to reach out. We have an Instagram and Twitter, @homemadebookies, or you could email us at homemadebookies@gmail.com. Happy reading!
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