Indies Introduce

Middle Grade

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  Hour of the Bees, Lindsay Eagar
  Candlewick Press, 9780763679224, March 8, 2016 (Middle Grade)
  

  This debut is so innovative, it’s almost audacious. As you read the final sequence in Hour ofthe Bees, you will be asking yourself, “Oh my gosh, am I really reading this? Am I really,really reading this?” And the thing is, YES, YOU REALLY ARE!

  Will Walton, Avid Bookshop, (Athens, GA)
  
  

  Carolina is not happy about spending the summer before junior high with a grandfather she’s never met, helping her parents move him into a home for people with dementia. But as the summer drags on, Grandpa Serge’s fanciful stories of the past and her family’s roots grab hold of her. She finds herself questioning what is real and what is true, and learns how those two things are not always the same. A beautifully written, magical book. 

  Drew Sieplinga, Wild Rumpus Books, Minneapolis, MN
  

  Eagar imbues this coming-of-age story with so much atmosphere and heart, you’ll be buzzing about it. Set in a parched desert, Carolina and her family are moving her aging grandfather from the ranch he loves into an assisted living facility. The drought-desiccated ranch initially feels like a wasteland, but Carolina soon learns not everything is as it seems. The tales Carolina’s grandfather tells her seem like ancient fables, but when elements of his tales start appearing in her real world, she is forced to reconsider everything she knows about herself and her family. This novel has heart, magic, and superb storytelling. 

  Erin Barker, Hooray for Books!, Alexandria, VA