Feb 26, 2004

ON MY BOOKSHELF

“The Secret Life of Bees”

By Sue Monk Kidd

Barbara Martin , 60
Part time reading teacher at Baldwin School

Local reading enthusiast Barbara Martin is currently acting as surrogate mother to 24 kids at Baldwin School in the Oak Grove School District.

“You don't have to be a parent to raise children,” said Martin, who works at Baldwin twice a week with kids that have fallen below grade level in their reading skills. “As a teacher, I get a unique opportunity. One thing I say to the kids may affect them for the rest of their lives.”

And as a reading teacher Martin has specifically helped change kids' views on reading.

“Some of the kids are ESL [learned English as a second language] or have a learning disability,” said Martin. “But I tell them, ‘You can't be successful unless you read. So far [this year] I've had four graduates.”

Kids graduate when they reach grade level in their reading abilities.

As for credibility in her field, Martin has personally done plenty of reading.

“I was sickly as a child,” said Martin, who has battled through cancer and congestive heart failure, maintaining a quick smile and contagious laugh. “During times of illness [reading] has been quite comforting.”

More recently, however, Martin enjoys reading for a lighter reason: entertainment. This month her book club tackled “The Secret Life of Bees,” by Sue Monk Kidd.

Kidd's “The Secret Life of Bees” deals with 14-year-old Lily Owen's struggle, coming to age in the 1960s. As a young girl her mother died, leaving Owen with one haunting image: a Black Madonna with Tiburon, South Carolina scrawled on the back. At first, Owen spends a great deal of time fantasizing about a blissful family situation and pondering the connection between her mother and Tiburon.

Eventually, however, Owen's nanny, Rosaleen, who, due to discrimination in the Civil Rights Era, is shooed out of town by rich white men. Owen takes the opportunity to flee with her, suggesting they move to Tiburon, where she will search to discover more about her deceased mother.

In Tiburon, Owen becomes mesmerized with her new world, learning about bees, honey, and the Black Madonna, who presides over the house she shares with three beekeeper sisters and Rosaleen.

“It's a beautiful book,” said Martin. “The story was set during a good time for our nation, when things were beginning to change, but [given the circumstances] sometimes you feel bad that the characters have to experience what they do. There's a lot of wisdom in the pages and there are lots of quotes to use in your own life. [Ultimately, Lilly] finds her mother in all of the women.”

—By Justin Petersen