[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Bloomsbury Children’s Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Meg has lived in Willow Pond her whole life. She knows what to expect from her family, her school, and her neighborhood. She’s been best friends with Beatrix since kindergarten.
As they’ve gotten older, Meg and Beatrix’s interests have started to change. Beatrix is into dance and sets the standard for most things at school with their peers. If Beatrix thinks something is great – or lame – everyone usually falls in line with her opinion.
Meg loves science. In fact, she’s one of only four 7th graders invited to do a science experience at her school. Meg is thrilled, except it means telling Beatrix she won’t be doing dance. Meg’s never been great at dance anyway. But Beatrix has expectations. If Beatrix didn’t care, it would be fine. But she has a way of punishing people who go against her. She “froze” Meg out for a week last year, and it was miserable.
Hazel is new in Willow Pond. From the way she dresses to her fascination with honey bees, she stands out. Beatrix knows all the tricks for drawing negative attention to Hazel, while still seeming “nice” to adults, or avoiding teacher attention. But Meg, and Hazel, know the truth. Beatrix doesn’t like Hazel and she’s determined to make her miserable.
Meg’s mom encourages Meg to befriend Hazel. She moved a lot as a kid, and she knows how it feels to be new. But her mom has no idea that it can be just as hard to be with the kids you’ve known forever when your place in your social circle is in jeopardy.
Review
I enjoyed this middle school friendship story filled with bee information. The author does a good job linking the bees to the larger story. As Meg learns about bee behavior in the hive, she makes connections to her situation at school with Hazel and Beatrix.
Beatrix is a classic mean girl “villain.” I suspect her strong reaction to Hazel comes from (a) seeing that Hazel marches to the beat of her own drum and likely wouldn’t yield to Beatrix and (b) fear of losing Meg who always gives in and does what Beatrix wants. She’s catty and manipulative and pretty unlikable all the way through the story. She will give readers lots to think and talk about.
The emphasis on science – and the creativity in science – is great. I learned a lot about bees, just like Meg does.
I loved all the ways Meg grows through the story. This season in her life changes how she thinks about bees, how she sees her relationship with Beatrix, her relationship with her mother, and her understanding of herself. This would be a good class read aloud or book group choice. It’s full of things to prompt great discussion and interaction.
The Bridge Home – Four homeless kids make a family for themselves as they live near an abandoned bridge, but when illness strikes, will they continue to fend for themselves or will they have the strength to reach out for help? This was one of those “it’s well written, but I didn’t like it” books. This was dark and sad and upsetting and heart-wrenching. I did not enjoy reading it. But it’s well-written and there’s TONS of material in it for readers to dig into. This is for older middle grade readers (10+). Rating: ♥♥♥♥
Maybe He Just Likes You – A middle school girl struggles to speak up about the behavior of the boys around her, especially when her friends tell her she is over-reacting or should be flattered. You can read my full review of this one 
Operation Frog Effect – Eight kids tell the story of what happened that got their teacher in trouble. One of the stories is told in graphic novel format. To me this felt like a 
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise – Coyote and her dad have lived life on the road in their renovated school bus since Coyote’s mother and sisters were killed in an accident. But now she is desperate to get back home before her last moments with her mom and sisters are lost forever. You can read my full review of this one 
Right As Rain – A grieving family moves to New York hoping a change of scenery can help them in their loss, but Rain is convinced her brother’s death is her fault. While she holds her secrets close, a new friend may help her open up and shine the light of truth on what happened that night. I LOVED this! Of these 7 books, I had already read and reviewed 3 of them. Of the four that were new to me, this was my favorite. I adored everything about this – the grieving pieces as well as the poetry and the hot chocolate and the soup kitchen and the running. Fantastic characters. A story I just wanted to hug. A happy tearful ending as Rain finally shares her story. Beautiful! Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Roll with It – A girl with cerebral palsy who longs to be a baker adjusts to a new home and a new school. I loved Ellie and her family and friends in this one. The baking pieces were fun and sounded delicious. I don’t have a lot of books in my reading repertoire starring characters with disabilities, so I was glad to add this book to my list. Rating: ♥♥♥♥
Song for a Whale – A deaf girl who is also a tech genius learns about a whale that can’t communicate with other whales, and she decides to find a way to “sing” to this whale. You can read my full review of this one 