Kissing the Bee

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Overview

Senior year is flying by, the prom is approaching, and Dana, her best friend, Avra, and Avra’s boyfriend, Emil, are about to encounter the pains and pleasures of that intricate beehive called adult life. While Dana plans on college, Avra plots escape once school is over—and plans to take Emil along for the ride. What does Emil want? He’s not saying. Dana studies bees for a biology project, fascinated by their habits and their mythological imagery – but in real life, emotions can sting, and while two’s company, these three may just become a crowd. As Dana reminds us, in every hive there is only one queen bee.

 

With remarkably textured language and a...

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More About This Book

Overview

Senior year is flying by, the prom is approaching, and Dana, her best friend, Avra, and Avra’s boyfriend, Emil, are about to encounter the pains and pleasures of that intricate beehive called adult life. While Dana plans on college, Avra plots escape once school is over—and plans to take Emil along for the ride. What does Emil want? He’s not saying. Dana studies bees for a biology project, fascinated by their habits and their mythological imagery – but in real life, emotions can sting, and while two’s company, these three may just become a crowd. As Dana reminds us, in every hive there is only one queen bee.

 

With remarkably textured language and a distinctive heroine, Kissing the Bee is a novel of rare depth and stark honesty that will draw readers in from the very first page.

 

Kissing the Bee is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Koja (Buddha Boy) incorporates facts and folklore about bees as a metaphor in this spare and haunting novel. As the last few weeks of senior year unwind, Dana completes her bee research for a biology project, and draws comparisons for readers: "The one fact everyone knows about bees- there is only one queen. Which in our little three-person hive was Avra." Most people think Avra and Dana are best friends, but Dana knows otherwise; Avra stays focused on herself and demands Dana's full attention, too. "She was basically what I did," Dana admits to herself. But who is really the "queen bee"? When Dana falls for Emil but Avra cements a relationship with him, the relationship grows increasingly complicated-and, once Emil kisses Dana, it can no longer survive. Koja's timing is perfect as she builds the sexual tension between Dana and Emil. Her understated, tightly focused language evokes vivid scenes and heady emotions. Almost without the audience's awareness, the author sketches the characters' family histories-Dana's widowed mother, Avra's perfect older sister and overinvolved mom and even-tempered father-each line of dialogue, each interaction illuminating struggles that readers face as well. Ages 14-up. (Sept.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
Sarah de Verges
As the end of their senior year approaches, Dana, her best friend Avra, and Avra's boyfriend Emil are faced with what will happen in May. But, before school ends there is a lot to think about, like prom and Dana's big biology project on bees. As Dana works on her project, she becomes mesmerized by the intricate behaviors of these insects, and she realizes her life is more closely related to theirs than she would have ever thought. She also realizes she may no longer be able to ignore her feelings for Emil and what they will do to her friendship. This novel about love, friendship, and truth is told through intricately woven metaphors and honest language. The heroine Koja has given us is truly special, and her journey into her adult life is beautifully and gracefully taken. Readers will float through the story, never wanting it to end. Reviewer: Sarah de Verges
More Reviews (3) Fewer Reviews
VOYA
One would think that Dana is the third wheel to Emil and Avra's coupledom. Dana cannot explain how it works, how all three of them do just about everything together, and how she manages to keep her own love for Emil to herself. As Dana continues researching her biology project on bees and as prom looms, tensions rise among the three high school seniors, and as they say, something has to give. Dana needs to be honest about her friendship with Avra and truthful with herself. Avra possesses all the anger and restlessness of a friend used to being center stage. As Avra rails against her absent "perfect" older sister and plans to run away after graduation, Dana quietly goes on with life, hovering around her love for Emil and giving readers a glimpse into her solid relationship with her mother. Emil is the less fleshed out of the three corners of this triangle. Dana describes the color of his hair as champagne, and his personality comes across as just as colorless. But the interplay of Dana and her own feelings drive the story, and her burgeoning relationship with Emil has an understated passion that will satisfy the diehard romantic readers.
School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up
Emil, Dana, and Avra are best friends. Dana loves Emil, but he is dating Avra, the Queen Bee, and loyal Dana would never betray her. It's the end of senior year and the two girls have a lot to look forward to: for Dana, it's a college scholarship, for Avra it's just driving out of their small town with Emil riding shotgun. What he wants is anybody's guess. Then, in a rare moment alone, he reveals to Dana that he loves her. She is horrified and ecstatic and is finally forced to deal with a whirlwind of feelings that had been shoved under the surface. Koja takes the typical teen love triangle and spins it into a layered, intricate, emotional read. This story is thick like honey, humming with beautiful imagery and dialogue. The characters are multifaceted and interesting. Written from Dana's point of view, this book is her emotional journey. Her inner monologues are eloquent, honest, and admirable. She begins each chapter with excerpts from her Bio II independent study on bees, an addition that could border on trite symbolism, but in Koja's hands, they are utterly fascinating. It's through her studies on the group dynamics of bees that Dana realizes that she is the Queen Bee, not Avra. Kissing the Bee is a short but rich psychological exploration of the intense complexities of friendship and love in a teen world. A definite choice for reluctant readers looking for something with a more creative, "emo" slant.
—Emily Anne ValenteCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews
A slow, choppy start leads to a predictable conclusion in this teen-angst-drenched quasi-romance. Dana Parsons, aspiring science writer and bee aficionado, has her own little hive with impetuous "queen bee" best friend, Avra, and Avra's boyfriend, Emil. The trio, getting ready for their commencement and prom, face challenges of their uncertain future and their wavering feelings for each other. When romantic emotions between Dana and Emil intensify the threesome must come to terms with their evolutions. The countless apiary allusions in the writing wear out quickly. Dana, Emil and Avra are flat characters, each is quickly stereotyped: logical Dana, fiery Avra and pusillanimous Emil. Instead of a gripping, emotional story portraying maturation and change, the author's terse work feels more like an unrefined sketch. (Fiction. YA)

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780374399382
  • Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
  • Publication date: 8/21/2007
  • Edition number: 1
  • Pages: 128
  • Sales rank: 1,215,560
  • Age range: 14 - 18 Years
  • Lexile: 860L (what's this?)
  • Product dimensions: 5.69 (w) x 8.56 (h) x 0.71 (d)

Meet the Author

KATHE KOJA is the author of several notable books for young adults, including The Blue Mirror and Buddha Boy, both ALA Best Books for Young Adults, and, most recently, Going Under. She lives near Detroit, Michigan.

Read an Excerpt

From Kissing the Bee

I wanted Emil. I wanted him from the very beginning, before Avra even saw him. No one knew this, even though Avra would occasionally make these odd little jokes, when we were all together: driving somewhere, the radio on and the windows down; or sitting on the patio, under the acacias; or drinking gunpowder tea in our favorite booth at the Green Bowl: If anything ever happens to me, she's say, piling my hand and Emil's together on the lacquered green table, his long fingers, the scarred silver-spoon ring she gave him, you two have to carry on in my name.

Carry what on? I would say, sliding my hand back, my skin electric where it had touched his, a living tingle.

It's the lest we could do, Emil would say. And roll his gray eyes, and smile.

His smile is so sweet. Always with his lips closed—there's this little gap between his front teeth, extremely cute but he is very self-conscious about it—long narrow lips the exact shade of Dark Peach lip balm; his hair is the color of champagne. He is just as tall as Avra but only just. My head barely comes up to his chin. . . . Once he slept with his head on my shoulder, in the backseat of Avra's car. We had gotten bored at this stupid keg party—neither one of us is much of a drinker—so we went out to the car to wait for Avra, waiting and yawning and talking and then not-talking, until Emil finally just gave up and fell asleep. His hair—it was longer then—mashed up tickling against my skin, his arm was warm and still and heavy on mine. I took little breaths, tiny little breaths, to breathe in his smell, to not break the spell and wake him up. The street-light shone sideways through the back window, that faint underwater green, and I pretended we were on the ocean somewhere, on a sea journey, a nonstop honeymoon cruise. I leaned my head sideways, craned it sideways, so my hair would brush his. Finally I fell asleep, too.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
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Sort by: Showing all of 5 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted March 17, 2010

    Kissing the Bee Review

    I thought that Kissing the Bee was actually a good reading. I enjoyed reading about the main characters of the book (Avra, Dana, and Emil) and their last year of high school as seniors. I felt that this book was very addicting and I just couldn't put the book down. I liked how this book was so realistic to the point that I could refer this books plot to my own high school experience. This book talks about cheating, drugs, alcohol, and love. It's a great read for people from ages 14 and above because it really can connect to the teen reader in many ways. What I found interesting was that I've never heard of the Author Kathe Koja until our librarian told us about her and her books. Of course I would have never heard of her or read her book because it's not as well known as popular reads, such as Twilight. But reading this book proved to me that there are other books that can be just as interesting as the most well known, and maybe even better, you just have to look for them. Another thing I enjoyed about the book was that in every chapter, there is an excerpt in the beginning that talks about bees and how they live or just general information. I thought that was pretty cool because not only did you read something awesome, but you got a little information about bees. It's a two in one deal. Putting this excerpt in the beginning started to hint to the reader of what's going to happen in that chapter, and I found that helpful. Also, I liked how this book was short(about 150 pages),but sweet. Overall I felt that this book was a good read and would like to read another one of Kathe Koja's books. Before I didn't read much, but reading her book has got me wanting to visit the library and borrow books just for fun and not just as a requirement.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted November 2, 2008

    more from this reviewer

    Reviewed by JodiG. for TeensReadToo.com

    Dana and Avra are best friends. As good of friends as can be when one person is the queen bee and the other is charged with doing what it takes to keep the queen happy.

    Avra is the undisputed queen -- she decides what they do and when they do it. She also has lofty plans for the future. Avra is counting the days until the end of high school. At that time, she plans to escape from her family and town in an attempt to conquer the world. In true, royal fashion she has even determined that one member of her "royal court," her boyfriend, Emil, will accompany her on her journey.

    Dana has her own plans. She is heading to college and, in addition to her duties of helping Avra prepare for prom, she is working on her final project for school. Dana has been preparing a project on the lives and habits of bees, which closely mirror the social interactions she and her friends are experiencing. Dana also has a problem that she has managed to keep secret from Avra and Emil. She is in love with her best friend's boyfriend. But does Emil have feelings for Dana, as well?

    KISSING THE BEE is an amazingly straight-forward novel that will draw you in and keep you reading from the first page to the last. The main character is as true as she is flawed; a character that anybody who's ever loved can identify with. Kathe Koja has written a story that flows smoothly from beginning to end. There are no distractions within the story; the focus remains on the relationship between three young people, teetering on the edge of change.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted June 6, 2008

    A deep, interesting book

    I really loved reading this novel. It is the first I've read by Koja, and after I finished 'Kissing the Bee', I headed straight for my local library to see what other books of hers they had. Koja marvelously interweaves multiple characters, developing them all sufficently. Also, she includes actual facts about bees that not only add to Dana's credibility, but also give insight into each character's behavior. I would not recommend this novel to anyone under 14 or 15, because it deals with themes that take maturity to understand. There are issues raised about loyalty, cheating in a relationship, committment, and self-realization. Overall, this book was a good read, and I am anxiously awaiting another one of her books.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 22, 2007

    A reviewer

    Dana and Avra are best friends. As good of friends as can be when one person is the queen bee and the other is charged with doing what it takes to keep the queen happy. Avra is the undisputed queen -- she decides what they do and when they do it. She also has lofty plans for the future. Avra is counting the days until the end of high school. At that time, she plans to escape from her family and town in an attempt to conquer the world. In true, royal fashion she has even determined that one member of her ¿royal court,' her boyfriend, Emil, will accompany her on her journey. Dana has her own plans. She is heading to college and, in addition to her duties of helping Avra prepare for prom, she is working on her final project for school. Dana has been preparing a project on the lives and habits of bees, which closely mirror the social interactions she and her friends are experiencing. Dana also has a problem that she has managed to keep secret from Avra and Emil. She is in love with her best friend¿s boyfriend. But does Emil have feelings for Dana, as well? KISSING THE BEE is an amazingly straight-forward novel that will draw you in and keep you reading from the first page to the last. The main character is as true as she is flawed a character that anybody who¿s ever loved can identify with. Kathe Koja has written a story that flows smoothly from beginning to end. There are no distractions within the story the focus remains on the relationship between three young people, teetering on the edge of change. **Reviewed by: JodiG.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 18, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

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