The Bean Trees

Mayra Buitron
June 8, 2005
Book Review

The Bean Trees
By Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees takes you on a journey of friendship and drama. This novel is about a girl named Taylor who grew up poor with goals of graduating without getting pregnant and getting out of Kentucky. Once she heads west, she ends up with a 3-year-old baby, who she later names Turtle. From the fear of getting pregnant, Taylor still ends up with a baby and has to manage taking care of herself and Turtle. Along the way in Arizona, Taylor meets Mattie who helps her settle down and lets her get a job in a tire company and also meets Lou Ann who takes Taylor and Turtle into her home with her baby Dwayne Ray. I would recommend this book to all people that like to read fiction or that would like to read about a girls struggle and how she learned along the way.

One strength of the book is its plot. It is written in a way that you would have questions but wouldn't be answered until the end of the book. It wouldn't want to let you put down the book. You would want to keep reading until you find your answers. The book is telling new stories every time and it gets interesting every time.

Another reason why is because the language and great imagery. It is written in the 70s and 80s style. It's understandable because it's like the way we talk.
"All of the baby's clothes were too big, with sleeves rolled up and shirt tails wrapped around, and everything wet as mud boots and as hard to get off. There was a bruise twice the size of my thumb on its inner arm. I threw the soggy shirt in the sink to soak...I hadn't any sooner gotten the hands pried loose from my fingers before they grabbed onto my shirtsleeves and my hair. When I pulled off the pants and the diapers there were more bruises."
This is a piece from the book. It's one of my favorite quote from the book. It explains when Taylor gets Turtle and she is taking Turtle a shower and Taylor experienced that Turtle was beaten by her former family, which was her aunt and uncle.
Its theme is its o.k. to try new things even though you didn't want them at first. It might turn out good. There are lots of things that happen but they always turn out good at the end. Don't ever doubt what you do because it could be a good thing at the end and through the process, you'll learn new things that could help you in life.

The Bean Trees was a very good novel. I would recommend this book to all who like to read love stories, mysterious novels, and those who love to read fictional novels.

This Kentucky girl loves books about Kentucky girls

This book was wonderful. What an adventure. It has a solid story not a book that follows a guideline of every book that came before. It will surprise you, and you'll remember it long long after you read it.

Janet Sue Terry - Contemporary Romance Author
Read the SET MY FREE TWO BOOK SERIES
Book- 1, "Possibilities," and Book 2, "Resolutions"
And - "Just Our Best Short Stories 2005.
Learn more about this author by visiting her website"
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Uplifting Read

The Bean Trees is an uplifting novel showing the incredible power of love and friendship. To avoid becoming "barefoot and pregnant," Taylor Greer sets out from her native Kentucky not knowing where to go or where she would end up. After a stranger gives Taylor a two year old little girl named Turtle, Taylor gets stuck in the exact situation she left Kentucky to avoid. After her car breaks down in Tucson, Arizona, it seems almost to be fate when Taylor rents a room belonging to Lou Ann, another single mom born and raised in Kentucky. Unlike the fiery Taylor, Lou Ann depends on her recently departed husband, Angel, ands seems unsure of herself. The two form an immediate friendship, one that helps both women come to find themselves. Lou Ann discovers confidence in herself and accepts and cherishes her life as a single mom, with Taylor at her side. And Taylor finds that her friendship with Lou Ann and her love for Turtle is enough for her to call Tucson home. Home is where the heart is, and Taylor realizes how true this is.