The Big Sting
by Rachelle Delaney (Author)
A visit to Leo's grandfather's farm turns upside down when his grandmother's bee hives are stolen. A light-hearted and funny middle-grade novel for fans of Rebecca Stead and Lynda Mullaly Hunt.
Eleven-year-old Leo is an "armchair adventurer." This, according to Dad, means he'd choose adventures in books or video games over real-life experiences. And while Leo hates the label, he can't argue with it. Unlike his little sister Lizzie, Leo is not a risk-taker.
So when he, Lizzie, Mom and Dad leave the city to visit Grandpa on Heron Island, Leo finds all kinds of dangers to avoid -- from the deep, dark ocean to an old barn on the verge of collapse. But nothing on the island is more fearsome than Grandpa himself -- Leo has never met anyone so grumpy! According to Mom, Grandpa is still grieving the recent death of his wife, a beekeeper beloved by everyone on the island.
Despite Leo's best efforts to avoid it, adventure finds him anyway when Grandma's beehives go missing in the dead of night. Infuriated, Grandpa vows to track down the sticky-fingered thieves himself . . . with risk-averse Leo and danger-loving Lizzie (plus a kitten named Mayhem) in tow.
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Publishers Weekly
When their parents interrupt a family trip by heading to a spa, 11-year-old Leo and nine-year-old sister Lizzie are unexpectedly left with their cantankerous, recently widowed maternal grandfather on Canada's Heron Island. The kids' father, who is changing careers and obsessed with personality quiz site Fatefinder.com, has dubbed cautious, curious Leo an "Auditor." And it's true that Leo prefers the orderly world of virtual farming game Applewood Acres to Grandad's dilapidated barn and overgrown field, but he's also peeved about being pigeonholed and attempts to embrace the shifting situation. "Adventurer" Lizzie, meanwhile, is ready for anything. The theft of their late, pun-loving apiarist grandmother's dozen hives soon plunges the unlikely trio into a mystery. They set out on an unexpected adventure to track down the beeknappers, with their grieving Grandad declaring, "No. Puns. Allowed"; Lizzie embracing a barn kitten she calls Mayhem; and Leo, true to his careful nature, assessing possible risks along the way. This character-forward beekeeping mystery from Delaney (Alice Fleck's Recipes for Disaster), considers the limitations of labels and the authentic messiness of IRL adventures. Ages 8-12. Agent: Amy Tompkins, Transatlantic Agency. (Feb.)
Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JUV013030 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Multigenerational
JUV028000 - Juvenile Fiction | Mysteries, Espionage, & Detective Stories
Lost articles
Grandfathers
Detective and mystery fiction
Grief
Beehives
