RATIONALE

The Bumblebee Flies Anyway is for 11th or 12th grade students. It can be read and studied thoroughly in three to five weeks. The great thing about Robert Cormier is that he searches out obscure worlds or experiences and makes them accessible for all readers.

The Bumblebee Flies Anyway takes us to one of these obscure worlds - the world of an experimental hospital. This is a world that the majority of your students will know little about. They may not even know that such places exist. Inside the world of this hospital (The Complex) they will meet kids their own ages dealing with many of the typical teenage problems - suicide, influence of friends, feeling controlled by adults, and rebellion. These are the things that can be used to draw students into the novel.

The real strength of The Bumblebee Flies Anyway, however, is its ability to force students to consider the importance of memories and identity. This book enables a student to see how important individual memory in terms of maintaining personal freedoms. Without memory we can be misled by anyone.

This book works well with a study of persuasive writing. It also works well with discussion of brainwashing and propaganda. What are the forces controlling us? How free are we really? Is it really a good thing to be allowed to do anything you want? This book digs for answers to these questions. It will cause your students to questions of control and even questions of anarchy.