The Honey Thief

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended!
Review: When eleven-year-old Eva is picked up on her fourth shoplifting charge, her mother Miriam decides it's time to pack up all their stuff and move to the country. Eva is convinced her mother hates her and is trying to ruin her life, but at the same time is absolutely DESPERATE to be close to her. In their new place, Miriam immediately starts work, leaving Eva with an elderly babysitter who lets her just run off into the woods every day. It's in the woods that Eva meets Burl, a middle-aged beekeeper who takes her on as his apprentice. This is a wonderful novel that explores everything from coming-of-age to mother-daughter relationships to how keeping secrets in a family can tear everybody apart. Oh yeah, and it's about bees, too.