This was a fun and intriguing book, and I would suggest it to my 7th and 8th graders. The book covers the story of a boy named Sam, in which he's trying to find a topic for a science project. He decided on making a bee colony, which ends up making a lot of miscalculations and theories. ( )

Sam and his dad are new to New York, having moved because his father got a new job as head pastry chef at a high class restaurant located in the Meadows Hotel. Sam attends the Manhattan school of science and befriends three other students named Ella, Tristan, and Matt and together they decide to work on a science fair project about Colony Collapse disorder, a disease that kills bee colonies and threatens the bee population the world over. Together they work on raising a successful bee colony on the roof of the Meadows Hotel for their science fair project while also trying to help save his dad's restaurant which is in danger of closing. I rated this book 5 stars as it is a great realistic fiction book that has a lot of valuable information about Colony Collapse disorder as well as the effect bees have on their environment. The book is fun to read and the characters feel real and fleshed out, it would be a great addition to any classroom library. ( )

Sam and his dad Nick have recently moved to New York City. Sam’s dad has taken the job of head pastry chef at a fancy restaurant, the Bella Vista in The Meadows Hotel. With the job comes an apartment on the top floor. Sam is lucky enough to attend the Manhattan School for Science and with the start of the winter semester, Sam and his friends Ella, Matt and Tristan must think of a theme for their seventh grade science project. This year there is an added bonus where the winning team will go to Washington D.C., so the team has to think of something good. With the help of a newspaper article about colony collapse disorder and the news that the Bella Vista may soon be out of business, Sam comes up with an idea that will be great for his team and hopefully help his dad- bees! The Bee team proposes the idea to set up hives on the roof of the hotel and study the bees, with the extra honey going to the Bella Vista kitchen. However, The Bee Team will be up against some stiff competition and will have to overcome many obstacles taking care of live bees.

This is a wonderful middle-grade environmental fiction novel that I know I would have enjoyed reading just as much in middle school as I did now. With a focus on colony collapse disorder within honeybee hives, Bees on the Roof brings a current and relevant issue to middle grade readers. With the seventh-grade science project that the team completes, kids are encouraged that they can be influential helpful within the scientific community. There was a lot of great factual information on bees in general, the problems they are facing, Colony Collapse Disorder and how to set up and maintain a hive. I enjoyed that common issues were brought up including cost, stings and potential hive failure. Each of the characters- Sam, Matt, Ella and Tristan are relatable and is going through their own personal issues; the team must overcome a budding romance, cheating, family issues and medical issues while working on their project. It was great to see each character have a different scientific interest as well whether it is engineering, computer science, math or biology and how they made all their specialties work together. My only complaints were that the romance was a little heavy for an environmental fiction book taking place in seventh grade, it didn’t interfere too much, but if I was a seventh-grader reading this I may have felt a little behind the curve; also, I didn’t like the way the cheating scandal was handled, although it worked out fine in the end.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )