Bumblebee Season, Eileen Garvin (Review by Tricia Nelson)

Bumblebee Season: A Novel will have you feeling all the feelings, and delivers on a readable, discussable book.  This would be an excellent book club choice as there is so much to discuss but it remains very accessible. The author brings the characters to life quickly and makes you want to know more.

Jake is a beekeeper living in a small town in Oregon.  He has close ties to his community and has found creative ways to work with his honey farm from his wheelchair.

Abigail is an entomology graduate student who has trouble understanding people and why they act the way they do, but has always loved the natural world around her.  She finds herself on a research team with a leadership position searching for an endangered bumblebee.

Flaco is a 14-year-old young man living in a small town in Mexico that is threatened by drug cartels.  His mother sends him to the United States for better and safer opportunities, feeling that the risk of the journey and the unknown that lies in Oregon is far less than the risk of her son staying in the home he has known all his life.

These people are so very different but all encounter the same issues:  Who is our ‘family’ and where do we belong?   What is required of us when we encounter someone different from us?  The treatment of differences, whether in interactions with someone with autism, or someone with a physical disability, or someone from a different culture or who speaks a different language demonstrates a hopeful way forward that is needed in today’s United States.  The story has its villains, as well, as the author holds a mirror to some of the more divisive elements of our culture at this time. At the heart of it, this is a compelling novel about community, belonging, and empathy.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention the bees that are a consistent fourth ‘character’.  I learned so much about bees that I didn’t know that I didn’t know.  I certainly won’t look at the bumblebees and honeybees that visit my flower garden next season the same way.