The Bean Trees

Locations
Call Number: Adult Book / Fiction / General / Kingsolver, Barbara
On Shelf At: Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Kingsolver, Barbara	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Kingsolver, Barbara	4-week checkout	Due 05-22-2024

Meet Taylor Greer. Clear eyed and spirited she grew up poor in rural Kentucky with two goals: to avoid pregnancy and to get away. She succeeds on both counts when she buys a 55 Volkswagen and heads west. But by the time our plucky if unlikely heroine pulls up on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona at an auto repair shop called Jesus is Lord Used tires that also happens to be a sanctuary for Central American refugees, she's inherited a three year old American Indian girl named Turtle. What follows as Taylor meets the human condition head on is at the heart of this memorable novel about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Sweet submitted by jmenik on June 26, 2011, 4:09pm This book is a sweet and poignant exploration of relationships--in families and in communities. Kingsolver's style is not as mature in this volume as in some of her later ones, but it is still a joy to read. Teen-friendly.

Bean Trees submitted by sauerr on August 7, 2011, 12:21pm I loved Kingsolver's voice and style. The plot was exciting, yet light and interesting. I also loved all of the unique personalities represented by the characters. Turtle was a metaphor for many resilient rebirths, and Taylor's hard-headed stubbornness was nicely accented by Lou Ann's timid determination.

The Bean Trees submitted by alumeng.ajl on July 19, 2013, 4:10pm This novel was amazing. I love Kingsolver's prose and style. The plot was intriguing, and Taylor's voice was unique and interesting. I definitely wish to read the sequel. Definitely recommended.

The Bean Trees submitted by Jen Chapin-Smith on August 30, 2013, 9:07am In her very first novel, Barbara Kingsolver tackles difficult issues of war, racism and child abuse.

"The Bean Trees" begins as Taylor Greer leaves her Kentucky hometown in search of a better life. As she had a Cherokee ancestor, she drives through the reservation in Oklahoma to see what the place looks like. While there, a woman leaves a Native American baby in Taylor's car and Taylor decides to raise the girl, naming her Turtle.

Taylor and Turtle settle in Arizona and become involved in the 1980s Sanctuary Movement. Like many people in the US, Taylor did not know that her government was supporting genocide in Central America until she meets a couple who have escaped the violence in Guatemala by entering the United States without documentation. The couple have changed their native Guatemalan names for Spanish ones in an attempt to avoid the genocide and then change their names again to suit an English-speaking culture.

I recommend this book in particular because it forces U.S. readers to confront our nation's history of racist violence.

Good novel submitted by redwood on August 2, 2019, 9:20pm Has its problems regarding Native American adoption, which Kingsolver tries to address in sequel Pigs in Heaven. But a well-written novel building cross-racial coalitions.

The Bean Trees submitted by crp on August 5, 2019, 11:22pm Well written and classic Kingsolver

Well written, but problematic submitted by meileen on August 28, 2022, 2:09pm The portrayal of an adoption of a native american child by a white woman is problematic, but the book is well written. Would be good to also read the sequel pigs in heaven.