Book Review: The Little Bee by Nicola Killen

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The Little Bee  by Nicola Killen  is a children's picture book about a girl name Ollie who follows a bee to a magical, secret garden. But, the next day, the beautiful garden was gone, and the little girl misses her new friends. What will she do? This beautiful book has an expected publication date of May 5, 2026. I'd like to thank NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and Beach Lane Books for approving my request for a digital Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Little Bee . I received a copy for free in exchange for my honest review. Nicola Killen wrote such a beautifully worded story that I found myself immersed in the story, and I'm not even the target audience. It's a charming tale that should encourage children to explore nature and make them want to plant their own secret garden.  Equally beautiful were the illustrations. I found myself taking the time to actually look a the pictures as I read. It's a great story to read   at bedtime  with ch...
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Book Review: The Invitation by Diane Hoh

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YA Horror Book Review of The Invitation by Diane Hoh
The Invitation by Diane Hoh is a Point Horror novel for young adults published by Scholastic in September 1991 and is about five unpopular high school students receiving an invitation to the party of the year by one of the most popular girls in school.  The five unpopular students hope this will be a night they'll never forget.

Diane Hoh was one of my favorite authors as a tween and teen, and I thought I had read all of her books with The Invitation being one of them.  However, in reading this book as an adult, none of it really felt familiar with the exception of maybe a line or two, so I don't think I ever read it.

The majority of the characters were unlikable, and I was surprised that there was such an overabundance of unpleasant characters in this novel.  I found it even more remarkable that a couple of them were down right cruel.  The only two characters that I found likable are Sarah and Riley.

With that being said, as a whole, The Invitation by Diane Hoh was well-written and had a great premise.  It had a few heart-stopping moments, some twists and turns, and at least one red herring.  I enjoyed that there was a bit of romance thrown into the story for good measure.  This is a great book for children eleven and older.  Three out of five stars.

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