Bee Boy: Clash of the Killer Queens by Tony De Saulles
| Bee Boy: Clash of the Killer Queens by Tony De Saulles | |
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| Category: Emerging Readers | |
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Reviewer: James Donald
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| Summary: An educational and entertaining book that keeps you hooked but never stops feeding you the facts. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 192 | Date: February 2018 |
| Publisher: OUP Oxford | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0192763877 | |
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Young Mel's friend has left and the beehive is now his to look after. Unfortunately Mel lives in a tower block and not all of his neighbours agree that it is the correct place for a hive. Things change when Mel suddenly realises he has an amazing superpower; he can become a bee.
Educational and agenda driven books are a difficult thing to produce without coming across as preachy. On occasion De Saulles does stray into this territory but on the whole he manages to balance things well. Even when he does come across as preachy the catastrophic global colony collapses are horrific and terrifying and frankly we need books like this to help us understand bees and empathise more. De Saulles is clearly incredibly passionate about this subject and this seeps off the page.
The story here is not as predictable as you'd expect and it is far darker than you'd expect. We have three main stories running parallel to each other; Mel at school, Mel at home, and Mel, the superhero bee-boy. Each one has its own merits and they are all handled well. We are manipulated to detest the ignorant and to embrace the knowledge being presented. In school Mel faces bullying, a rubbish teacher and his crush. At home the bullying and ignorance spills over and threatens the bees. Mel the superhero faces the darkest tale of all with wasps, moths and rival Queens. Things later take a very unexpected turn to absolute darkness which comes completely out of left field.
I loved this book and I do sincerely hope that it will hit the mark with its intended audience. OUP (the publishers) clearly want to back this new project and it should succeed.
Further reading: Will Jellyfish Rule the World? by Leo Hickman.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Bee Boy: Clash of the Killer Queens by Tony De Saulles at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Bee Boy: Clash of the Killer Queens by Tony De Saulles at Amazon.com.
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