Bren MacDibble's first middle-grade novel is a startling cautionary tale about the dangers of losing the bee.
"If me and Mags don't do our job the trees suffer, the fruit suffers. What we do is important." Peony and her sister Mags work as "pests" on a farm, shoo-ing insects from the crops. At night, they crowd into their tiny shed with Gramps, and Peony dreams of becoming a bee. Since real bees disappeared 30 years ago, selected children now pollinate fruit trees by hand--Peony is certain she'll become a bee soon. But then Ma forces Peony to move with her to the city. Secretly intent on running away, Peony begins work as a maid in the Pasquale household. As she settles in, Peony forms a tentative partnership with the Pasquales' cosseted and fearful daughter, Esmeralda: Peony will teach timid Esmeralda to be brave, and Esmeralda will get Peony back to the farm.
MacDibble's quiet dystopia subtly hints at the chaos and devastation of earlier famines by showing their aftermath, yet the author keeps the crime and poverty at a distance through Peony's youthful, upbeat narration. Peony's point of view keeps the story moving quickly forward; MacDibble trusts her audience to understand nuance and never includes unnecessary, overt explanations. Peony's family showcases the different levels of acceptance in each generation: Gramps adapts, Ma desperately chases financial success, and Peony and Mags love their impoverished farm life. In contrast, the Pasquales maintain an upper-class lifestyle but are unable to break through the wall of fear around Esmeralda. How to Bee is a chilling look at a broken future and a beautiful story of how those from vastly different backgrounds can inspire change in one another. --Kyla Paterno, freelance reviewer