Zinnia and the Bees

Gr 4–7—They had trusted bee 641, had thought she would find them a new home when they escaped from their hive to become wild and free. They did not plan on living their days out in the curly mess of hair on this human's head, but here they were. Meanwhile, said human, Zinnia, hadn't anticipated spending the summer wearing a hoodie to cover a buzzing mess of bees. In fact, she is not having the summer she expected at all. Her yarn bomb on the last day of school had, well, bombed, and she came home to find that her older brother and most important person in her life, Adam, had left without an explanation. Then Birch, the odd nephew of Zinnia's neighbor, comes to stay for the summer. Zinnia starts to understand what friendship and family really mean and in the process loses and gains some things (the bees, friends). Alternating between Zinnia's and the bees' perspective, this novel forces readers to suspend disbelief, though it does not quite verge into magical realism. Despite the outlandish premise, Davis does an excellent job crafting human characters who are varied in their emotions and grow in awareness. The solution to Zinnia's problems is believable and clever yet still leaves room for change.