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The Boys and the Bees
by Joe Babcock
| List Price: |
$12.95 |
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$11.65 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
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$1.30 (10%) |
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Paperback
Publisher: Carroll & Graf
A gay 12 year old boy begins his first year of junior high with the vow that this will be the year that he kisses a boy. Like The Tragedy of Miss Geneva Flowers—only lighter, brighter and more youthful—The Boys and the Bees is set in Minneapolis and involves a confused but sweet adolescent kid coming to grips with growing up gay and feeling completely lost about it.
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| Sweet story but one major problem |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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I wish books like this had been available when I was a gay teen in the 70s. The story is very sweet and the characters well written. The dialog is mostly spot on for the age of the characters, though a few things are said that don't seem like they would come from the mouth of a 6th grader.
Having said that, there is one *big* problem with this book that would stop me from recommending it to its intended target group (young teens). Though not explicit, there are references to sexual contact between the characters. Sure, there are kids that start exploring sexually at age 11 (I was fairly certain, and terrified, that I was gay at that age but I was far from sexually active) but it is *not* appropriate content for a book aimed at kids. All kids, both straight and gay, should be encouraged to wait until they are older to have sex.
So, four stars for the book but docked a star for inappropriate content.
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| My goodness, what a pleasant read! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Reading this book was like eating vanilla ice-cream with whipped cream and a cherry on top. A very light and easy read with small chapters and simple language, this book is written in the story telling style of an 11 year-old with the frequent and twisted jokes of an adult. (I read this book while listening to the light music of Mozart, so it added a zest of pleasantry and anticipation to it.) Basically the novel is an adventure type story of a coming-of-age gay boy, who discovers he is gay as he pacing his way into the six grade, fascinating him self with true lust and love. This book contains some graphic episodes, which makes this book even more interesting to read. One thing that left my itch unscratched, is whether or not main character got what he was dreaming of...and whether or not his original relationship continued. but that was an extra info, regardless of which the novel was a complete and rare masterpiece. A must read. P.S. How come the cover shows black boy?
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| Not great |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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Really a young adult book. Overly simple and predictable coming of age coming out story. Not badly written it just doesn't compare to so many others so much better. Perhaps if you are a teenager it would speak more to you than a mature adult.
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| Essential reading for young teens |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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Publisher's Weekly made a good observation, one that I'll borrow and expand on. This "account of adolescent same-sex stirrings" is unlike many entries in the same genre because it focuses on exactly what's going on in kid's heads: sex. For some kids (especially boys), that's all they think about at this age. They're lucky to leave the house with their underwear on straight most days.
So many other stories that tell "account[s] of adolescent same-sex stirrings" center around an often over-manufactured melodrama, forget about the hormones, and focus on a romance, or a bland friendship, and by doing so, leave a huge void for teenaged readers who are still asking if it's normal for them to have to walk around with their Trapper Keepers in front of them all day. And, by the way, is it normal - or OK - for me to have sleepovers with my friends? (Add some weight to the word sleepover, and realize that they're not about watching movies and eating popcorn until the wee hours of the morning.)
I can imagine someone, say, my age reading this and thinking, "Wouldn't it have been GREAT if there was a book like this around when I was 11 or 12?" I would imagine that the answer would be yes. Or perhaps YES! And the reason isn't just the subject matter; it's how perfectly the author captures the mind of an eleven year old, with all of the expected frustrations and elations intact. One moment James is Andy's (the narrator) best friend, and the next he is a "f**got". Andy goes back and forth with this through the book, and one can't help but feel immense sympathy for the softer, feminine James who receives such rough treatment at the hands of someone whose friendship he is never confused about. But at the same time, Andy himself is a sympathetic figure because we see that these are confused actions, not real, and hurting James isn't anything he's proud of, or happy to do. And never, at any time, does he waver from his a significant part of his core identity: a boy who is attracted to other boys, and who is currently obsessing over Mark, the star basketball player.
It should be understood that this is *not* a book with hormones bursting out of the pages. (The cover is a little misleading in that department.) The hormones that do exist receive an artistic, tasteful rendering. The characters are freshly drawn. Indeed, I feel like I could sit down right now and have a conversation with Andy or James, so vivid are their characterizations, and the reality of their expressed emotions. I have tremendous respect for the author for addressing such potentially inflammatory issues, and for the publisher for the same reasons.
One note: basketball players don't "check" each other. That's a hockey term. Although, since this book references the first season of Beverly Hills 90210, I assume the year is 1990 (when the author himself would have been 11), and flagrant fouls didn't exist yet in basketball terms. Still, it's "unnecessary contact". Also - the cover of the book depicts a boy dressed in today's traditional baggy jeans with boxers protruding. Because this was set in 1990, that image doesn't really fit the time of the story, but that's of little concern.
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| Suprisingly Realistic, Diappointingly Short |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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This book was surprisingly realistic in the way the characters reacted. There were many points where I myself could relate and honestly say that "I've been there and done that!"
This is the story of a young boy, Andy, who enters junior high in the hopes that it will be his best year ever. He soon finds that it is possibly his worst year ever and he will soon find out where his loyalties lie.
I thought that the book could have been longer, and more detailed. At times it felt like the author just wasn't giving enough details or information. Also at times it felt like you could tell it really was written by an adult,and although the author did a good job, I believe it is the hardest challenge for authors to portray teenagers in a story, especially in the given plot.
Overall, 4 stars. Well written.
Good for Readers in Junior High and up. (12+)
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