The novel Little Bee by Chris Cleave is the best recent example of the adage, "Don't judge a book by its cover." The whimsical art and story description lead the reader to believe that this is a light, comedic romp. What contains within the happy yellow covers is an unfunny depiction of the violence in Nigeria, the consequences of global oil dependence, the guilt that results when you are a "have" in a world of "have-nots" and the conditions of undocumented residents in the United Kingdom.

The story begins on a Nigerian beach where the main characters meet. Teenaged Little Bee and her sister are on the run from mercenaries paid by oil companies to clear her village. Magazine editor Sarah O'Rourke, who has convinced her husband to take a more daring vacation, ignores the advice of the resort guard to take a walk on the beach. The encounter ends tragicly and the two leads don't meet again until years later after Little Bee stows away to the U.K.

In addition to being a gripping story, Little Bee is topical for readers in Arizona, who are innundated with information about border issues. Perhaps British readers who are familiar with Cleave's columns are better able to appreciate the humor, but American readers are overwhelmed by Sarah's overwhelming life and horrified by the horrifying events and troubled by the troubling policies that leave good people detained in bad circumstances. For many American readers, the gravity of the storyline consumes any other emotion. Rather than laughing at a young child running around in a Batman suit to cope with a topsy turvy life, we sympathize with him. The novel is ligher at some times than others, but overall the American reader is more likely to want to read Little Bee in their own Batman costume.

Little Bee: A Novel by Chris Cleave
Simon and Schuster, 2009