The Horn Book Guide

OLDER FICTION

Johnston, Julie

In Spite of Killer Bees

253 pp. | Tundra | October, 2001 | Trade ISBN 0-88776-537-8 $$17.95

(2) YA Fourteen-year-old Aggie and her two older sisters make up a precarious family: their father, a convicted thief, has died; their mother ran off long ago; and the sisters lead separate lives. When they are told that they are the heirs to their deceased grandfather's estate, they leap at the lifeline. The narrative, immediate and personal, keeps the reader firmly inside Aggie's head; the voice is as unconventional, heartfelt, and ultimately as likable as Aggie herself.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2002