Darius Bell and the Crystal Bees - Softcover

Odo Hirsch was born and grew up in Melbourne, where he trained to be a doctor. He now lives in London and writes excellent books that are published not only in Australia but also in the US, UK, Netherlands, Korea, Germany and Italy.

The Bells may no longer have wealth but they are still able to live on their grand estate in reasonable comfort and leisure due to the produce and honey cultivated by the dedicated specialists who work the land. When bees start to mysteriously die, the impact on the future of the Bells—and the families dependent on them—becomes evident to young Darius. Unlike his daydreamer father, Darius is a boy who recognizes a problem when he sees one, and he sets about trying to get new bees. A spiteful mayor goes out of his way to thwart the boy, which shifts the novel’s focus from an environmental story line to one about a vendetta. The mystery of the dying bees is not resolved, or even investigated, and most of the adults in the book never rise above caricature. Still, readers who think grown-ups are all meddlesome spoilsports won’t mind and will simply be rooting for Darius and his friends. Grades 4-7, --Kara Dean