Many of us have a very distinct image of evolution, born of science classes and popular myth. We can almost see that brave creature, a cross between a fish and a frog, taking it’s first tentative steps onto land, forging ahead into the barren wilderness that would someday produce humanity. How egotistical we all are. As Jay Hosler very rightly points out, the world was already teeming with life: insect life. Clan Apis is a funny, tender, and (gasp) educational journey through the life of one smart-mouthed honeybee, Nyuki. She makes her way from a tremulous larva to a full-fledged pollen gatherer with the help of her tireless sister Dvorah, her garrulous but dim brother Zambur, and the magnificent Queen of her hive. Also not to be missed are her friends outside the hive, from paranoid flower Bloomington to practical dung-beetle Sisyphus. Another title that provokes giggling at inappropriate times, Clan Apis also features an excellent behind the scenes look at the author’s inspiration and work with bees.

Clan Apis
ISBN: 9780967725505
by Jay Hosler
Active Synapse 2000

  • Robin B.

    Editor in Chief

    Teen Librarian, Public Library of Brookline | She/Her

    Robin E. Brenner is Teen Librarian at the Brookline Public Library in Massachusetts. She has chaired the American Library Association Great Graphic Novels for Teens Selection List Committee, the Margaret A. Edwards Award Committee, and served on the Michael L. Printz Award Committee. She was a judge for the 2007 Eisner awards, helped judge the Boston Globe Horn Book Awards in 2011, and contributes to the Good Comics for Kids blog at School Library Journal. She regularly gives lectures and workshops on graphic novels, manga, and anime at comics conventions including New York and San Diego Comic-Con and at the American Library Association’s conferences. Her guide, Understanding Manga and Anime (Libraries Unlimited, 2007), was nominated for a 2008 Eisner Award.