Bee Battle: Spelling, Spiders and the Secrets of Like
by Donny Bailey Seagraves
Josh Meyers, a fifth-grade student at Hartfield Elementary School, has dedicated his life to sports. A sudden injury on the soccer field sidelines him for the rest of the season. Emily Ash lives to win spelling bees. Last year, she placed fourth in the national bee. When her archaeologist parents and younger brother fly to Egypt for a year to dig for artifacts, Emily stays behind in Hartfield with Uncle Max, an artist and paraplegic. She misses her family, but Emily is determined to return to the National Spelling Bee where she plans to win first place.
Without sports to occupy his time, Josh soon becomes Emily’s chief competition in the school bee. She must defeat Josh to continue her quest to win the national title. To reach her goal, Emily devises a series of plans to make Josh lose the bee. Josh creates plans of his own to beat Emily.
Who will win? Wild Josh Meyers? Or Spelling Bee Queen Emily Ash? Find out in this story of ruthless rivalry and unexpected friendship in the small, Southern town of Hartfield, Georgia.
5 out of 5 fairies
I absolutely adored this from start to finish. It’s dual POV, so we get to know Josh and Emily from the start. Although this is geared towards upper elementary-lower middle grade readers, it’s really a fun read that even older readers looking for an easy read will enjoy. The story is full of rivalry, friendship, typical tween worries that kids will be able to relate to, and school cliques. Although there is a rivalry between Josh and Emily, neither really crosses any hard lines into hard bullying, although Josh was definitely trying to tease Emily when they first met. I loved how Emily handled that first meeting, and it wasn’t how I expected it to go, and really set the tone for the rest of the book, which was light-hearted and fun. Overall, a fun read for younger middle grade readers!
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads
Donny Bailey Seagraves is an author of books for children and adults living in Athens, Georgia. Her debut middle grade novel, GONE FROM THESE WOODS, was published August 25, 2009 by Random House, Delacorte Books for Children. She is a native of Athens and has written for the Chicago Tribune, The Writer, and many other magazines and newspapers and was a columnist for the Athens Daily News. When not writing, Donny works in her rare and used book business, Junebug Books.
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