Shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2006
The countryside is so much scarier than the city. It’s all life or death here.
Things are not going well for 12-year-old Gussie. Her parents have just divorced. Her much loved grandparents recently died within days of each other. Her own life could end at any time, and she knows it. Gussie was born with a rare, life-threatening heart disease.
To reduce the strain on Gussie’s health, she and her mother move from the constant rush of London to a lonely cottage on the Cornish coast. With little else to do but read the old nature books found in the cottage, Gussie learns about the burying beetle, which has the curious habit of burying dead birds, mice, and other small animals by digging away the earth beneath them. This is the reason, she realises, that she never comes across dead animals in the wild. As she searches the countryside for the elusive insect, Gussie is forced to confront her mortality and, like the burying beetle, bury things past and live.
Rich in everyday disappointments and pleasures, The Burying Beetle is an inspiring celebration of life.
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Learn more about The Burying Beetle, author Ann Kelley and the real burying beetle at http://www.luath.co.uk/theburyingbeetle/.
