The Last Beekeeper

The Last Beekeeper

Pablo Cartaya

HarperCollins, 2022

300 pages

Grades 5-7

Science Fiction/Dystopian/Adventure

Yolanda lives with her sister Cami in the near future. The girls are farmers and are struggling to keep their small and sad strawberry crop afloat. Yoly dreams of getting off the farm and into the technical field where she can live a posh life in the big city. She is one class away from finishing the technical school program, but the sisters are out of money and in debt to the controlling city of Silo. The mayor offers Yoly an offer she can't refuse: a scholarship to the program. Cami is skeptical and thinks their must be strings attached. Yoli impulsively goes for it and unleashes a series of troubles that cements the girls' debt and further puts them at the mercy of the mayor and the city of Silo. All is not lost as the sisters discover a lost beehive in the woods which can produce "liquid gold" and maybe solve their financial problems if they play their cards right. The mayor's sister loves honey and is determined to gain control of the hive. Can Cami and Yoli save the hive-and themselves-from certain destruction at the hands of the greedy city rulers?

Award winning middle grade novelist, Cartaya, pens a cautionary tale, warning young readers about the dangers of environmental neglect. A world without bees is a real threat to our current situation and would have a tremendous impact on food production. This future world is explored within the context of an exciting adventure tale. Dystopian adventures continue to be popular and this one feels a bit like the Hunger Games in that the central city holds all the power and removes the rights of the countryside majority. Readers will root and identify with Yoli, especially with her love of coding and tech, which puts her at an advantage against the adults. The author weaves in scientific information about beekeeping that will educate kids as they turn pages to see what will happen next. There is a bit of a mystery as readers slowly discover the power behind the throne, so to speak, and a Scooby-Doo-like ending reveals the real villain. This adventure is satisfactorily sewn-up and all's well that ends well, yet the last page delivers a cliffhanger, inviting a sequel. Cartaya offers extensive information about bees at the end of the book encouraging budding naturalists to learn more.