The Little Queen - by Kevin Hincker (Paperback)

About the Book

The novel cannot help touching on problems humanity must confront if the creatures of our planet hope to survive - and thrive - together.

Book Synopsis

" ...readers will fall in love with Anthony and his Little Queen." - Kirkus Reviews

They created her, then destroyed the thing she lived for: her children. When, miraculously, she discovers a new family, she'll fight any battle to keep it safe.

Deep in the Selkirk mountains, a mysterious queen bee fleeing the scientists who created her is rescued by, and then adopts, a boy grieving his mother's death, in this "glowing, powerful work of speculative fiction."

From his dying mother Anthony inherited a beehive-and the gift to speak with bees. But as soon as she is gone her hive slips toward ruin. And then Anthony finds the Little Queen, a remarkable bee hiding a dangerous secret. She assumes control of Anthony's hive and resurrects it with extraordinary changes, then she takes Anthony in her care so he can begin to heal, too. But the family they form is threatened by those who made her, who want ownership of the Little Queen and everything she represents.

* * *

The bees in The Little Queen may feel like fantasy to readers who think the only creatures on the planet who ache for community, plan for disaster, and know love, are human. The truth, of course, is that bees have been doing these things for millions of years. This is a story extending that ancient and ongoing legacy.

Review Quotes

"The author tells his sweet-as-honey story from multiple perspectives, primarily those of Anthony and the Little Queen. The thought processes and world of the bees are intricately drawn; the description of how knowledge is passed along from one bee to another is creatively handled, and the Plain of Crowns, where only a Queen Bee may visit, sounds like heaven to both humans and bees: "Beneath her is a rich, golden vastness, the color of perfectly cured honey. It glows like the light of the sun through a yellow autumn leaf." Though Anthony is in the seventh grade, his story will appeal to adults and younger readers alike."

- Kirkus Reviews