Being Bee

Catherine Bateson

UQP

September 2006 $16.95

127p pb

ISBN: 0-7022-3566-0

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was informative and had a writing style that I really liked. It was based on a young girl named Beatrice (or Bee for short) whose mother died when she was young. For years she had been living with her father and had a happy life. But when her father gets a girlfriend, Jazzi, everything changes. Bee feels left out and feels very pushed around. Bee tries her best to get along with Jazzi but has big difficulties. Her father asks her to be as nice as she can but Bee just cannot deal with Jazzi. So Bee writes a letter to her guinea pigs and mysteriously the guinea pigs reply. Bee uses her guinea pigs as someone to talk to and someone to help her with her problems.

When Jazzi picks Bee up from school Bee’s feelings towards Jazzi change. Jazzi tells Bee that she has an autistic brother called Harley. Jazzi always visits Harley at least once a week and she is a bit embarrassed by him. But from the moment that Bee meets Harley he likes her. Jazzi and Bee start to warm to each other and become friends but when Jazzi is allowed to have the spare bedroom as a craft room she clears it out with permission from Bee’s dad. But Jazzi didn’t notice that there was a box of Bee’s things from when Bee’s mother was alive. Bee gets very upset and then runs away, and then things get complicated.

This book is very detailed and I would recommend it for anyone 12+. It was very interesting.

Kieren, aged 14, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia

Being Bee is the sad story of a young girl whose mother died and since it has been just her and her father but then Jazzy came along and that has sent her world upside down. Abandoned by her few friends, Bee only has one person to turn to, her nanna and her two guinea-pigs; even her dad is too distant to reach.
But through the love of guinea-pigs and some new friends Bee adjusts to her new life and her new step-mum seems to be better then she thought…
This book has a few heart-wrenching moments and tear-jerking scenes; it really is a good read. Follow through Bee’s life and see what happens and how things make sense to her. I’d definitely recommend this book and I’d say it’s best for females but maybe boys too; for ages 10 to15. I’d give this 3 and a half out of 5.
I enjoyed reading this book it was definitely enjoyable I think you should read it if you like the sound of it.

Joanna, Year 6, Canberra, Australia