Emily Spence

Secret Life of Bees

Sue Monk Kidd

Realistic Fiction

Just right

90

1. So far I am really enjoying the book The Secret Life of Bees. Right now Rosalleen and Lily are in Tiberon, South Carolina. While Rosaleen and Lily had been walking to town Rosaleen had gotten beaten up by the most racist people in town for spitting snuff on their shoes. Rosaleen then got arrested and Lily got taken home where her father was going to cruelly punish her. Lily knew it was time to get away from her cruel father's house. So she packed all her things and went to rescue Rosaleen at the jail. Rosaleen and Lily ran as far away as they could from the jail and then Lily decided they should go to Tiberon, South Carolina. Although this is a very random place Lily wanted to go there because she thinks her mother may have been there some time in her life. Right now Lily and Rosaleen have just been taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters. Lily is being introduced to the mesmerizing world of bees and honey.

2. So far I am enjoying the book and its been everything everyone had said it to be. The book is interesting and suspenseful. Nothing extremely exciting has happened yet but I am already being pulled into the wonderful story.

3. I'm not very far into the book yet, but I theme I have noticed is strength. Lily has had an extremely tough life. She has to go through everyday feeling the guilt of how she killed her mother. Girls at school don't even acknowledge her and her father is extremely mean. Lily pretty much always has to take care of herself. She needs an enormous amount of strength to keep going in her horrible life. Another theme I have noticed is bravery. Lily had to be very brave to run away from her home. If her father had found her she would have been severely punished. Also she showed outstanding courage when she saved Rosaleen from the hospital while Rosaleen was still sentenced to jail. Lily could have been killed or arrested just for saving Rosaleen but she did anyway because she knew she had to.

4. My favorite character is Rosaleen because she really helps Lily. She is like her new mother, and a loving mother is exactly what Lily needs. I also like how strong, and independent Rosaleen is. No other black person in the time period would spit snuff on some racist white people's shoes. Or even more outstanding, no one would stay strong and refuse to say sorry to the men. Rosaleen is a strong woman who is a great role model for Lily.

5. My least favorite character is T.Ray. T. Ray in my opinion is an absolute horrible man. He doesn't feel bad at all for her daughter. She has gone through so many horrible things in her life and he can't even be nice to her. He doesn't even realized that Lily is a teenage girl who has feelings and needs love in her life. T. Ray is a selfish man who treats his dog better than his amazing daughter. I am very happy that Lily ran away from her horrible, unloving father.

6. I predict that the black beekeeping sisters will let Lily and Rosaleen stay at their house for a while. The girls will probably even become close with the women. I hope that Lily tells someone her secret, because she really needs people to talk to about her troubles. But I have a feeling trouble will be on the way in a later scene in the book. I'm sure either T. Ray or the police will find a way to track down Rosaleen and Lily. Hopefully Lily and Rosaleen will be able to escape from the horrible people after them.