The Boys and the Bees

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?

cute and charming, and anybody who's lived in minnesota will know the places mentioned. it's a very nice little book to read.

I finally read this book just because I thought it was daring. To write about a boy awakening to his sexuality in sixth-grade still somehow startles me, and I wanted to see how this author did it. But he succeeded brilliantly. Andy is in a Catholic School and secretly admires Mark, the captain of the school's basketball team. He is at the age where he not completely sure of his interest in certain other guys, but knows it's different than most of the other guys his age feel about girls. Conversely, his friend James--who has feminine characteristics and has already been labeled "fag" at school--is a challenge. Andy thinks he should rebuke James but doesn't fully have that rejection in his heart. I was concerned there would be overt sex among these sixth-graders, which seemed like a creepy possibility. But this book is in good taste, only dealing with the flirtations and desires of these boys, and never getting graphic. This novel has realistic scenes, honest dialogue, and funny twists. For instance, Andy decides he wants to go to Mass so he can see Mark, and has to convince his parents. "Who has to beg their parents to go to church?" he asks, incredulous. There are also many mini-earthquakes of the emotional sort, often demonstrated in short phone calls. It all rings so true--those moments where "I like you" turns to "I hate you" in a few seconds. We've all been that age and have been there! As Andy begins to realize who he is, and deals with the outcome, the story reaches an even higher level of storytelling. Witty, well-crafted and wise, this book is a good read for middle schoolers or anyone interested in queer lit.

My fifth book of this year was Joe Babcock's "The Boys and the Bees" a charming short book about coming of age. It took me right to my old school pictures. You know the ones with all your classmates together? I could see the boys and girls who gave me trouble in school, but didn't remember their names. I did however remember my Mark; named Craig and my James; named Leroy. I only remembered them because I loved them like Andy loved James and Mark. I enjoyed this book and liked the way it ended because it could lead to another book. - Joe - TX

"The Boys and the Bees" so beautifully captures that brief moment in time between Power Ranger pajamas and sex. Andy is a young boy who can't quite understand why he's infatuated with the basketball star and not the least bit interested in the beauty queen. This sounds like the set-up to a sappy, melodramatic "gay novel" for the younger set; however, Joe Babcock rises above the genre and produces a crisp and sparkling story that avoids all the usual pitfalls of gay lit. Andy's is a voice rarely heard - a twelve year old whose priorities change in the blink of an eye. Babcock refuses to speak down to his young audience, while being careful not to go too far in the opposite direction (think Dawson's Creek). He manages to maintain an accurate depiction of adolescence, overflowing with gentle comedy and moving sincerity. So whether you're gay or straight, young or old, male or female, each sentence is so rich with meaning that you'll instantly be hurled back into your childhood - a time when every obstacle seemed so utterly monumental, yet was so easily resolved by an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. Wise, witty, bittersweet - never cheesy - "The Boys and the Bees" is a stellar coming of age story by virtue of not really being one. Rather, it's a beautiful snapshot of a young boy that Joe Babcock has brought to life for a hundred and some odd pages. We all should be so lucky to hand our photographs over to this author and have him spin a story far better than our memories. This is truly a remarkable piece of writing.