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Search - Bee Season
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Bee Season Author: |
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Book Information
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Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Hardcover, Audio Cassette (Unabridged), Audio CD
Book Description:
Eliza Naumann, a seemingly unremarkable nine-year-old, expects never to fit into her gifted family: her autodidact father, Saul, absorbed in his study of Jewish mysticism; her brother, Aaron, the vessel of his father's spiritual ambitions; and her brilliant but distant lawyer-mom, Miriam. But when Eliza sweeps her school and district spelling bees in quick succession, Saul takes it as a sign that she is destined for greatness. In this altered reality, Saul inducts her into his hallowed study and lavishes upon her the attention previously reserved for Aaron, who in his displacement embarks upon a lone quest for spiritual fulfillment. When Miriam's secret life triggers a familial explosion, it is Eliza who must order the chaos.
Myla Goldberg's keen eye for detail brings Eliza's journey to three-dimensional life. As she rises from classroom obscurity to the blinding lights and outsized expectations of the National Bee, Eliza's small pains and large joys are finely wrought and deeply felt.
Not merely a coming-of-age story, Goldberg's first novel delicately examines the unraveling fabric of one family. The outcome of this tale is as startling and unconventional as her prose, which wields its metaphors sharply and rings with maturity. The work of a lyrical and gifted storyteller, Bee Season marks the arrival of an extraordinarily talented new writer.
Myla Goldberg's keen eye for detail brings Eliza's journey to three-dimensional life. As she rises from classroom obscurity to the blinding lights and outsized expectations of the National Bee, Eliza's small pains and large joys are finely wrought and deeply felt.
Not merely a coming-of-age story, Goldberg's first novel delicately examines the unraveling fabric of one family. The outcome of this tale is as startling and unconventional as her prose, which wields its metaphors sharply and rings with maturity. The work of a lyrical and gifted storyteller, Bee Season marks the arrival of an extraordinarily talented new writer.
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Top Member Book Reviews
Nymphadora T. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This book would have gotten the full five stars had the ending not been so... unfinished? Bee Season is the story of a seamingly average girl, Eliza, who discovers she has an incredible knack for spelling. Where "Akeela and the Bee" took it's viewers through the life of just Akeel and her quest to win the National Spelling Bee, "Bee Season" tells the story of how each family member is effected during the Bee and the events leading up to and after it.
As a person living with OCD, I found it incredible to get into the mind of Eliza's mother, Miriam, and how OCD can ravage a life and destroy the perfect order of things if it isn't controlled. I also recognized the patterns of behavior the rest of the family had when trying to pretend that Miriam was perfectly normal, sleeping only three or four hours a night and cleaning each individual item in the refrigerator while everyone else sleeps.
Eliza's father, Saul, is a great character who is responsible for my new desire to study religion. It is interesting to hear his conflict with Eliza's brother, Aaron, when Aaron breaks from Judaism and in doing so, breaks away from Saul.
Overall, very well written. I found that, toward the end, I could not put the book down. Well worth the read, just don't count on a tidy ending.
Lisa L. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is one of the better books I've read in 2006. Myla Goldberg's narrative style is very real, very personal. The way she descibes how Ellie, Aaron, Saul and Miriam are feeling - I was right there with each character. More often than not, I found myself feeling exacly how each felt at some moment in a time in my own life - Ms. Goldberg gets that "into" the emotions. It was fascinating to see each of their lives spiraling and changing and how each adapted (or didn't quite adapt) to change.
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Please Rate these Book Reviews
Janet G. (A great intense story regarding a highly religious Jewish man and how it affects his religion affects his relationship with his family.
Rachel H. (A very unususal and strange book, but very engaging and interesting. They made a movie from it, but I haven't seen it.
Read All Book Reviews of "Bee Season"
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