The Way to Bea

June 26, 2017
At the end of sixth grade, avid poetry writer Beatrix “Bea” Lee had close friends, but she’s starting seventh grade as a social outcast after embarrassing herself at a pool party. Bea tries to fly under the radar, but as the school newspaper’s new poetry editor, she starts making friends who embrace her as she is: Briggs, the Broadside’s exuberant editor in chief, and Will, an autistic student who hangs out in the newspaper office. Will is obsessed with walking the hedge labyrinth on a nearby private estate, and Bea decides to help. She’s also having a secret correspondence: someone has begun reading and responding to the poems Bea writes in invisible ink and hides on school grounds. Yeh (The Truth About Twinkie Pie) homes in on the pain of not fitting in and of being discarded by a trusted friend (in a telling detail, Bea’s narration avoids even saying her former friends’ names, using only their initials). Bea’s social missteps will be excruciatingly relatable to many readers, and her slow journey to self-acceptance is moving and wise. Ages 8–12. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary.

Dianne Down's earnest, enthusiastic narration as Bea illuminates the tumult and excitement that accompany middle school, with its awkward social situations and clashes between expectation and reality. Seventh grade presents a host of challenges for Yeh's characters. With urgency and determination, Down recounts details of mysterious letters, daring quests, new friendships, and the search for a group in which one can be one's authentic self. Her characterizations are spirited and and complex, highlighting the rapid growth and changes that accompany adolescence. Bea may be delightfully offbeat, but her challenges will resonate with anyone who is-- or ever has been--a brave, young soul looking for his or her place in the world. K.S.B. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine