Wings of a Bee

…readers who persevere will truly be rewarded by the emergence of a moving portrait of a 1980s Ontario family of five, one in which family dynamics are largely shaped by the presence of a child with cerebral palsy...

...Not an "every-girl" book, Wings of a Bee will find its readers who will appreciate its emotional impact.

... Wings of a Bee is a book that I am sure young readers would enjoy. They could associate with our heroine and sympathize with her struggle... .

... I think the greatest strength of Wings of a Bee is its character development. Bronwyn and Carey are unique and fascinating, and the other quirky inhabitants of their small B.C. town provide a lot of depth and some humour. All of the characters are completely original, and the reader really grows to care about what happens in their lives...

Generally, I enjoyed the book and loved the characters, and I believe it would be a good read for ages twelve and up.

Wings of a Bee is a wonderful young adult novel that follows the imaginative and quirky Bronwyn DeGroot as she grows from the age of 7 to 13. Bronwyn would be an interesting character in her own right who sees the world in a slightly different way than everyone else, but she is doubly special because of her close relationship with her younger sister Carey who has cerebral palsy. Carey is a very gifted child whose family, especially her mother and sister, struggle to giver her the opportunities to live up to her potential.

This book is very touching and truly gives you a sense of what it is like to live with a person (especially a sibling) with a disability. When you are reading the book, you begin to forget that Carey has a disability and just start to relate to the characters as themselves, rejoicing when they rejoice and crying when they cry. This is the first novel for young adults by this author and I truly hope it is not the last.

In Wings of a Bee, which is told in first person from the perspective of Bronwyn, who is six-years-old at the beginning of the story, the reader views the inner workings of a family dealing with the daily reality of cerebral palsy in their middle daughter, Carey. Bronwyn has always come home from school and immediately delved into playing with her sister, working with the constraints of Carey's wheelchair to position paper and a crayon in order to create fridge art that Bronwyn inventively names "Tuna Casserole with Ketchup," "Rodney's Diapers," and "Mr. Spindley's Soul," among others. Often their drawing sessions consist primarily of Carey's producing the art and Bronwyn's telling the story. Bronwyn has an unusual sense of humour and an imagination that scares away more than one neighbourhood child with stories of UFO's, ghosts, and other imaginary dangers. As the years pass and the family adapts to changing circumstances and new difficulties, Bronwyn develops a more complex relationship with her sister in view of the tension between their concern for Carey's health and Bronwyn's new peer relationships. As Bronwyn's mother is increasingly drawn into a battle with the school district to prove and cater to the fact that Carey, despite her physical disability, is of above-average intelligence, Bronwyn deals with conflicting emotions of love and belief in her sister, to jealousy over their mother's attention and her younger sister's superior abilities. While at the beginning of the story, Bronwyn is aware that Carey is different and requires special care, their unique bond and understanding seem to Bronwyn to be an entirely normal family function. The whole family interacts with such a sense of normalcy that Carey is taken for who she is without remonstrations or apologies for her needs. The sense of pride that the whole family elicits for their incredibly creative and intelligent member is shown especially in their response to the student-acted play that Carey has both written and starred in. Their community is also welcoming of Carey, despite the initial reluctance of the school board to accept her in mainstream classrooms and the low-level, unstimulating special-needs classroom environment. When Carey is successfully admitted to Bronwyn's school, Bronwyn begins for the first time to be aware of how Carey's disability could be viewed negatively by the public. However, the Grade 3 class that Carey joins is enamored of her wheelchair and the joy her popularity elicits in Carey, herself. As Carey gets sicker and their mother becomes more distracted with the daily realities of care and quality of life, Bronwyn must learn to deal on her own with those things that scare her, both real and imagined.

Clear prose and engaging, original humour make this novel accessible for a variety of readers. The vocabulary and language are uncomplicated but poetic, and the insight into the inner workings and daily struggles of a family dealing with cerebral palsy is invaluable. The title, itself, refers to Bronwyn's belief in and recognition of the miracle that is Carey; her remarkable abilities and distinct personality are evident once you see beyond her external appearance and mannerisms, just as the wings of a bee can't be seen but are known to be present, "...the translucent wings beat so fast they're nearly invisible; to the naked eye, a bumblebee hovering in mid-air is a miracle." Roorda herself grew up with a sibling with cerebral palsy, and the fictionalization of her story, Wings of a Bee, rings true.

***½
Highly Recommended