How to Bee is set in a dystopian future where children climb around trees to pollinate flowers. This theme is currently explored in a number of adult titles and this one is a brilliant add-on aimed at children. The book is told from the point of view of Peony, a girl longing to be a bee and loving her life on the farm with her sister and grandfather. She is an Anne of Green Gables kind of girl; family and nature loving, optimistic and fearlessly fighting for her idea of life. I really enjoyed reading this book and was immensely happy to receive an advance reading copy.

This story takes a very unique look at a world falling apart due to human advancement. Very fast paced and full of undercurrents of tension. The characters are well rounded, convincing and completely engaging. I loved it and I highly recommend it to everyone!

I loved this book. When books are, as this one is, short, fast-paced and quite quick reads they need to be incredibly well crafted and I felt like this one got that spot on. The descriptions of the farm Peony lives on with her Gramps, sister Magnolia and best friend Applejoy are rich and vibrant, and contrasted brilliantly with the misery she sees on city streets and the luxury she sees in the house her mother works at. Peony herself was a fantastic main character - I was rooting for her from the very beginning. She's fierce and feisty, determined and loyal, but most of all she's nine and she reads like it, thanks in no small part to the relationships between her and her Gramps and sister, Magnolia, as well as the developing friendhsip she finds with Esmerelda. She gets upset and frightened. She has friendships and fall-outs. She enjoys the things all nine year-olds would enjoy: food fights, running, dancing. She's protective, but still needs protecting too. Peony is happy on the farm she lives on, and aches to become a 'bee'. However, we're faced with her mother, Rosie - a weary, desperate woman who wants more from life and is promised it by an aggressive, controlling partner - she is trying to take Peony from the farm to 'earn some real money' in the city where she works. Here, Peony meets Esmerelda. They are like chalk and cheese and are equally dismissive and wary of each other at first. Over the course of the book, their friendship develops and despite their differences they start to try to help each other: Peony with Esmerelda's fear of life outside her house, Esmerelda with Peony's dream of escaping and returning to the farm. While on the surface this is a book about climate change and the environment (and while it undoubtedly highlights these issues and provides a good starting point for discussions about them), it's really much more about family, friendships and home-life. There are some tough issues addressed: poverty/class divides, domestic abuse and loss for a start, but the way they're dealt with is sensitive, not at all preachy, age-appropriate and very much in keeping with the story. Brilliantly written and hard to put down. Highly recommended.