HONEYBEE | CRAIG SILVEY | 2020

“Find out who you are, and live that life”— powerful words in a powerful book.

Craig Silvey, author of the highly regarded book Jasper Jones, also now a movie, certainly has a grasp on feelings. Whether it’s the central character fourteen year old Sam, his mother Sarah, or elderly Vic, the author managers to convey a depth and range of emotions from heartbreak to fear, and hopelessness sprinkled with just a little joy.

Sam is a child lost in neglect and uncertainty. There has been no one on his side, not until he decides to end his life and old Vic appears determined to do the same thing. Together they save each other not only from the railway bridge jump but also from their own distress. They comfort each other in a world that has abandoned them both.

Told in the first person, the flashbacks to what lead Sam and Vic to the bridge are revealed with perfect timing. It’s not all sadness, there’s wry humour and some madcap adventures from a crazy dog rescue, a botched bank robbery, to an over-the-top drag queen show that keeps the narrative humming along and give us some respite from the awful circumstances Sam regularly finds himself facing.

This is a coming of age story writ large about a boy who struggles with his gender until he finds his way with help from others who have gone before him. We’re willing him to succeed but the scars run deep and not until the end does Sam find out who he is and decides to live that life.

The writing is seamless and the language is consistent with each character’s persona. At times it does seem that characters are stereotyped into goodies and baddies with the goodies appearing just in time and the baddies (who are really bad) getting their comeuppances, and there are a few incongruent technology points and yes, the story does seem to be all tidied up at the end. But overall this is a beautiful story.

A few people have suggested that a book about a transgender teenager should be flagged in the cover blurb. It depends on your stand on the subject if you will enjoy this book as much as I did.