Jazmine Gaona
Book Review

The book I’m reading is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. The book has a old time plot and it a great novel. The story applies to more females then males and defiantly is a tear jerker. The book isn’t long and isn’t a difficult read. The story is a loving story about the bond between and mother and daughter. It was nominated for much critical acclaim and was a New York Times bestseller. It was nominated for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction and has been adapted into a film by Gina Prince that stars Dakota Fanning, Queen Latfah and Jennifer Hudson.
The setting for the book is in North Carolina. The story is about a young 12 year old girl by the name of Lily Owens. Lily Owens life is shaped by her blurred memory of the afternoon of her mother's accidental death. On Lily’s journey she is accompanied by a woman who is also like her ‘stand in mother’. The name of the woman that takes care of her is Rosealeen. Rosealeen is a black woman and deals with a great amount of racist criticism. When Rosaleen, insults three racists in town, they escape to Tiburon, South Carolina. The reason they travel to South Carolina is because Lily found a picture of her mother with a address located in South Carolina written on it. At home Lily doesn’t feel wanted or loved by her father T-Ray who isn’t much of a father at all. Lily had no problem running away if it would help her find more out about her mother. Lily is faced with trying to find out who she is because at her home she is not allowed to ask questions about her past. As soon as Lily makes it to the South Carolina home she meets a boy who she falls in love with. The boys name is Zachary Taylor, the only problem is he is a black boy, and she is a white girl. Later into the story Lily becomes a little more aware of her life, and the people that mean the most in it. She finds out who she really is when she learns about her mother's past.
The book was completed in 3 and half years. ” As a child, Kidd like Lily, also had a nanny who habitually chewed snuff. She included a few traits and sayings from her own nanny to Rosaleen. Although the author wasn't forced to kneel on grits as punishment, both she and Lily share the same disaffection for them.” The writing about a black woman and her troubles was a hard task for the author, Sue Monk Kidd.