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4 Beaverton Literature- A to Z

Bee Season

by Myla Goldberg

Bee Season Cover

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Eliza Naumann, a seemingly unremarkable nine-year-old, expects never to fit into her gifted family: her autodidact father, Saul, absorbed in his study of Jewish mysticism; her brother, Aaron, the vessel of his father's spiritual ambitions; and her brilliant but distant lawyer-mom, Miriam. But when Eliza sweeps her school and district spelling bees in quick succession, Saul takes it as a sign that she is destined for greatness. In this altered reality, Saul inducts her into his hallowed study and lavishes upon her the attention previously reserved for Aaron, who in his displacement embarks upon a lone quest for spiritual fulfillment. When Miriam's secret life triggers a familial explosion, it is Eliza who must order the chaos.

Myla Goldberg's keen eye for detail brings Eliza's journey to three-dimensional life. As she rises from classroom obscurity to the blinding lights and outsized expectations of the National Bee, Eliza's small pains and large joys are finely wrought and deeply felt.

Not merely a coming-of-age story, Goldberg's first novel delicately examines the unraveling fabric of one family. The outcome of this tale is as startling and unconventional as her prose, which wields its metaphors sharply and rings with maturity. The work of a lyrical and gifted storyteller, Bee Season marks the arrival of an extraordinarily talented new writer.

Review:

"Imagine a Jewish Ordinary People and then some....Unexpectedly powerful..." Newsweek

Review:

"Goldberg's insights into religious devotion, guilt, love, obsessive personalities and family dynamics ring true, and her use of spelling-as-metaphor makes a clever trope in a novel populated by literate scholars and voracious readers. Her quiet wit, balanced by an empathetic understanding of human foibles, animates every page....[A] fresh, distinctive and totally winning voice." Publishers Weekly

Review:

"There is something of Holden Caulfield in Eliza, the same crazed determination to save her loved ones from themselves. An impressive debut from a remarkably talented writer." Booklist

Review:

"[F]ervidly intelligent....Bee Season flickers past like a dream, and it is artful indeed." The New York Times Books Review

Review:

"In a story told with unique delicacy and brave inventiveness, a young girl, innocent and all-knowing, learns how much there is to lose, and what it takes to win." Elizabeth Strout, author of Amy and Isabelle

Review:

"Bee Season is a profound delight, an amazement, a beauty, and is, I hope, a book of the longest of seasons." Jane Hamilton, author of A Map of the World and The Book of Ruth

Review:

"Myla Goldberg's Bee Season is a bittersweet coming-of-age in which wise little Eliza Naumann's quirky passion for spelling bees unites and divides her family while revealing universal truths about the often crippling pain of love." Martha McPhee, author of Bright Angel Time

Review:

"There is such joy and pain thrumming inside Myla Goldberg's spelling bees! She delicately captures one family's spinning out by concentrating equally on the beauty and the despair. Bee Season is a heartbreaking first novel." Aimee Bender, author of The Girl in the Flammable Skirt

Synopsis:

This "honey of a first novel" (People) — now in paperback — is a coming-of-age story about Eliza Naumann, who amazes everyone by winning a spelling bee.

About the Author

Myla Goldberg lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, Jason Little.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:

bookmark60, November 18, 2006 (view all comments by bookmark60)
I have attempted to read this book several times.
This time I 'm glad I did. Bee Season touched my inner being. It is slow moving and then grabs you and won't let you go. I cared about the characters and so many emotions that I can't explain. The family seemed fine but then as you read deeper in the story it became slowly intense that you did not realize the intensity of feeling you have for the characters. Now I realize the buzz about this book. And now I will bbuzzing to others too.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(11 of 19 readers found this comment helpful)

Product Details

ISBN:
9780385498807
Author:
Goldberg, Myla
Publisher:
Anchor Books
Location:
New York
Subject:
General
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Domestic fiction
Subject:
Jewish families
Subject:
Spelling ability
Subject:
Jewish girls
Subject:
Bildungsromans
Subject:
Jewish fiction.
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Copyright:
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Publication Date:
20010531
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
288
Dimensions:
8.02x5.30x.65 in. .49 lbs.

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Related Subjects

Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Languages » Foreign Languages » Spanish » Religion » Western Religions » Religious Fiction

Bee Season Used Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$3.95 In Stock
Product details 288 pages Anchor Books - English 9780385498807 Reviews:
"Review" by , "Imagine a Jewish Ordinary People and then some....Unexpectedly powerful..."
"Review" by , "Goldberg's insights into religious devotion, guilt, love, obsessive personalities and family dynamics ring true, and her use of spelling-as-metaphor makes a clever trope in a novel populated by literate scholars and voracious readers. Her quiet wit, balanced by an empathetic understanding of human foibles, animates every page....[A] fresh, distinctive and totally winning voice."
"Review" by , "There is something of Holden Caulfield in Eliza, the same crazed determination to save her loved ones from themselves. An impressive debut from a remarkably talented writer."
"Review" by , "[F]ervidly intelligent....Bee Season flickers past like a dream, and it is artful indeed."
"Review" by , "In a story told with unique delicacy and brave inventiveness, a young girl, innocent and all-knowing, learns how much there is to lose, and what it takes to win."
"Review" by , "Bee Season is a profound delight, an amazement, a beauty, and is, I hope, a book of the longest of seasons."
"Review" by , "Myla Goldberg's Bee Season is a bittersweet coming-of-age in which wise little Eliza Naumann's quirky passion for spelling bees unites and divides her family while revealing universal truths about the often crippling pain of love."
"Review" by , "There is such joy and pain thrumming inside Myla Goldberg's spelling bees! She delicately captures one family's spinning out by concentrating equally on the beauty and the despair. Bee Season is a heartbreaking first novel."
"Synopsis" by , This "honey of a first novel" (People) — now in paperback — is a coming-of-age story about Eliza Naumann, who amazes everyone by winning a spelling bee.
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