The Secret Life of Bees- Sue Monk Kid

I just finished reading The Secret Life of Bees. It was different from the books I have reading lately and I enjoyed it. It takes place in the 1960s and follows a girl, Lily, as she discovers her mother's past (who died when she was four years old). It is a classic coming of age story thrown in the time of the civil rights movement. She runs away with her self-imposed mother and goes to a town in South Carolina which she is certain her mother has been. She ends up leaving with three black sisters who are beekeepers.

Lily ends up learning about her mother and in turn coming to terms with who she is. A few things impressed me about this book. Lily ends up falling for a boy named Zach. Because they have different skin colors, they both realize they cannot be together. Lily finds herself wishing that they had different colors of skins. However, Zach says there is no use wishing for that. "You gotta imagine what's never been" is what Zach replies.

We learn early in the book that Lily's father, T.Ray, will not be winning father of the year. The way he treats her is loveless. I cannot imagine how anyone could treat his daughter the way T.Ray treats Lily. Hopefully nobody I know will become so bitter about their life that they treat the people who love them and depend on them with no respect of love.

I recommend this book to anybody who loves to read. It is also a movie starting Dakota Fanning and Queen Latifah that is coming out next year.