The book I would like to recommend to middle school students is The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd. The copyright date is 2002 and the genre is African-American.

I recommend this book to middle school students for many reasons. The Secret Life of Bees is a tantalizing book about a girl who loses her mother at a very young age, and learns the skill of bee- keeping. This book is certainly relatable because the main character Lily is a teenaged girl who deals with many struggles day to day. When her mother died of an accidental gunshot wound when she was a toddler, her father T. Ray had custody of her. Lily feels awkward talking about girl problems with him. You find this relatable because it is awkward talking about those issues with the dominant male figure in your life. T. Ray treats her like she’s five and makes her wear the clothes that he wants her to wear. Which for a teenaged girl is a way of self- expression and if someone takes that freedom away from you is like taking away a part of your personality. Even though T. Ray is strict with her, she loves to spend time with her “stand- in mother” Rosaleen, who works for her father. But when Rosaleen gets into trouble with the racists in their town they move to South Carolina and Lily realizes this town has a lot to do with her mother. She is then introduced to bee- keeping by three African American sisters who help her with everything. Lily’s friends with the sisters are her best friends just like you may have a group of close friends.

I would highly recommend this book because the book is an amazing story about a girl who loses her role model at a young age and leads herself through it by being curious and doing what she likes to do. The book is funny yet interesting and has many twists in the plot that make the story wonderful to read. I feel this story was very relatable and it helps you explore the world of curiosity and family secrets kept and discovered by one teenaged girl and her discovery of the secret life of bees.

In conclusion, The Secret Life of Bees is a book I highly recommend for middle school students to read. A heartfelt story that will be worth every second of reading.