Goosebumps book 17: Why I'm Afraid of Bees - He's no ordinary human bee-ing...

Brief Summary: 

This Goosebumps meets Animorphs special (don't get me started on the Animorphs) stars Gary Lutz, a 12-year-old boy who hates his life. Gary's sister is mean and her cat is worse, his neighbor is a beekeeper and Gary HATES bees, and all the neighborhood kids are always bullying him. So when Gary finds an ad online that suggests he could switch places with someone for a week, he decides to go for it. But something goes wrong in the transformation and Gary finds himself in the body of a bee! Lots of chaos ensues. Will Gary ever get his human body back?

Spoilers and Review:

So this book had a slow start, but once I was in, I was IN. It starts off for the first 6 or so chapters and all I could think was Poor. Gary. Seriously, he is picked on beyond belief. But it really makes me feel for him. 

Then he decides to try to switch places with another kid, Dirk, which is already a great concept, very sci-fi, love that. But anyways something goes wrong and Dirk ends up in Gary's body, Gary ends up in THE BODY OF A BEE, and the bee ends up in Dirk's body! (Side note I would love a story where we follow the life of that bee in a human body, I wish we got more of a story about that, but all we get is a human boy buzzing around trying to drink pollen.) 

This book was mildly educational, because Gary was buzzing around learning things about bees which was fun for sure, and he's like really freaking out because he wants his body back and he keeps trying to talk to humans who can't hear him because he's a bee. And Dirk is really rocking it in Gary's body so when the bee-Gary finally tracks down the body switch lady, she's like "bad news, Dirk won't give up your body, I guess you're stuck as a bee." Yikes. 

Gary is actually kind of getting used to being a bee and gets his revenge on some bullies and also Dirk in Gary's body, and we're happy for Gary.

And then Gary DIES. He stings Dirk in the nose and DIES. And somehow wakes up and everyone is back in the right body again? Sure, we'll just pretend that makes sense. 

So now Gary is happy with his new life and somehow he and Dirk become friends but Gary seems to have a little bit of bee left in him because in the end he tries to drink some nectar from a flower! Classic. 

Mostly this book was Gary buzzing around as a bee trying to get people to notice him in various ways but it doesn't work at all and he just gets slapped around a lot. It was excellent.

Bonus points for an entirely misleading title and cover. He is not a bee with a human head and actually by the end he is not afraid of bees anymore.

The Rating: 

I was not prepared to enjoy this one as much as I did, but it was honestly awesome. I don't even know if I can explain why, but it's getting 3rd place! 

1. One Day At HorrorLand (#16)
2. Welcome to Camp Nightmare (#9)
3. Why I'm Afraid of Bees (#17)
4. Night of the Living Dummy (#7)
5. Stay Out of the Basement (#2)
6. The Haunted Mask (#11)
7. The Girl Who Cried Monster (#8)
8. Piano Lessons Can Be Murder (#13)
9. Welcome to Dead House (#1)
10. Say Cheese and Die! (#4)
11. Let's Get Invisible! (#6)
12. The Werewolf of Fever Swamp (#14)
13. The Ghost Next Door (#10)
14. Monster Blood (#3)
15. Be Careful What You Wish For... (#12)
16. You Can't Scare Me! (#15)
17. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (#5)

Join me next time for Monster Blood II.