MG Realistic Review of The Queen Bee and Me by Gillian McDunn

The Queen Bee and Me by Gillian McDunn
Format:  E-ARC
Publisher:  Bloomsbury Children's Books
Number of Pages:  288
Publishing:  March 3rd, 2020
Source:  Edelweiss Plus

Opening Line:  "There are two kinds of people in the world:  those who want to look inside to see how stuff works and those who couldn't care less." 

Meg is a thinker, the kind of person who would take a toaster apart to see how it works.  For a long time, she was happy following Beatrix, not wanting to upset the waters between them.  Although they've been best friends since kindergarten, sometimes Meg doesn't like Beatrix all that much.  Meg has a hard time being honest with her because Beatrix can get mad easily.  Lately, Meg has been finding it increasingly difficult to tell Beatrix that she wants to participate in science elective instead of dance.  It was an honor to be chosen, and Meg really likes science.  Beatrix is the one who's passionate about dance, not Meg.  Then Meg meets Hazel, she's quirky, friendly and very easy to talk to.  Hazel is really passionate about beekeeping and nothing like Meg, she just likes what she likes.  She's not worried about being teased for liking beekeeping or for wearing striped leggings, scarves and a knit hat.  Hazel has her own personal style.  Meg finds Hazel interesting and enjoys working with her on their animal fieldwork study, although bees frighten her, she's willing to give it a try.  Beatrix doesn't like their new budding friendship and intervenes to cause problems.  When Beatrix's antics threaten to have Hazel's beehives removed from town, Meg gets upset and is left questioning whether Beatrix's friendship is really worth all of the trouble.                 

Friends since kindergarten, middle schoolers Meg and Beatrix are now experiencing a change in the dynamics of their friendship.  Beatrix was always the sort of queen bee of the group, everyone followed her rules or they were frozen out of the group.  But Meg starts to realize that it isn't the kind of friendship that works for her anymore.  Hazel is such a fun character, she's spontaneous, creative and I appreciate she has her own style.  She's a risk-taker and love how she was willing to wing it when making cookies.  No recipe required, just experiment with adding different ingredients.  The story is really an exploration of friendships and how they should be a give and take relationship.  The importance of sticking up for ourselves and that sometimes when friends grow apart, the only thing you can do is" change yourself."  This reminds me of Pack of Dorks by Beth Vrabel.  They both utilize some of the characteristics of animals/insects and use them to explain human nature.  In Vrabel's, the comparison was made between the main characters and a pack of wolves and in The Queen Bee and Me there was a comparison made between the various roles humans take and the roles honey bees take within their colony.  I especially enjoyed all the interesting facts about bees and how they are so important to the environment.   It flows nicely with the rest of the story and I think it makes for a wonderful story for kids interested in science as well.  The book trailer is also so adorable!!   

                                        Narration: Violet McDunn, Music: www.bensounds.com