This dystopian first novel won the Children's Book of the Year award in 2018. A famine in Australia has wiped out the bee population. Fruit is in scarce supply and children have replaced bees. The protagonist, nine-year-old Peony, lives in a shed on a farm with her Grandpa and her younger sister. Her mother is away for long periods, working as a cleaner in the city. Peony works as a pest, helping to keep bugs off the fruit trees. She aspires to work as a bee, leaping from tree to tree, pollinating flowers by hand. Peony's mother decides the time is right for Peony to join her doing menial work in the city, but Peony has other ideas.
I loved some of the characters in the book and the recurring theme around the importance of family. However, there are also incidents of domestic violence, betrayal and death that I found heavy going. The novel is original and timely, but I felt the combination of natural disaster and terrible parenting was a bit much for a Stage 3 book.
