''Beetle Boy'' is a 2016 middle grade novel written by M. G. Leonard, illustrated by Júlia Sardà, and published by

The Chicken House The Chicken House is a publishing company owned by Scholastic Corporation, specialising in children's fiction. Founded in 2000 by Barry Cunningham and Rachel Hickman as Chicken House Publishing, it was bought by Scholastic in 2005. It has intro ...

(United Kingdom) and Scholastic (United States). It is the first part of a trilogy, as volume 1 of the ''Beetle Trilogy'' series. ''Beetle Queen'', the second part of the trilogy, was published in April 2017 in the UK and the third part ''Battle of the Beetles'' is published in February 2018. ''Beetle Boy'' won the

Branford Boase Award The Branford Boase Award is a British literary award presented annually to an outstanding children's or young-adult novel by a first-time writer; "the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist." The award is sha ...

in 2017, for outstanding first novel for children.

Plot and characters

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' summarizes the plot as "a young teen searches for his father with the assistance of unusual beetles." The book stars Darkus Cuttle, who moves in with his uncle after his father mysteriously went missing. Lucretia Cutter, the antagonist responsible for Darkus' father's disappearance, tries to kill the intelligent beetles that Darkus befriend.

Reception

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in a review of ''Beetle Boy'' wrote "Why it has taken them eetlesthis long to get starring roles in a children's book is a mystery, although their appeal to younger readers is not." and concluded "The discovery that a seemingly powerless band of creatures so small and seemingly powerless can be possessed of such skill, beauty and strength should keep this gem on many a bedroom and library shelf for years to come." ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

'' called it "An engaging story" and concluded " Educators looking for fiction that connects to and supports science curricula may find a new favorite in this." Booktrust found it "a wonderfully funny and engaging book, which is full of action, adventure and delightful illustrations." and "Perfect for fans of Roald Dahl." ''Beetle Boy'' has also been reviewed by ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

'', ''

Horn Book Guide ''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietres ...

'', ''School Library Connection'', ''Kirkus Reviews'', ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'', and '' AudioFile''. ''Beetle Boy'' has been licensed to over thirty-seven international territories, becoming a best-seller in the UK and the Netherlands. It has been nominated for a number of UK literary awards including the 2017

CILIP The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, since 2017 branded CILIP: The library and information association (pronounced ), is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers in the ...

Carnegie Medal and the UKLA award.

Julia Eccleshare Julia Eccleshare MBE (born 1951) is a British journalist and writer on the subject of children's books. She has been Children's Books editor for ''The Guardian'' newspaper for more than ten years, at least from 2000. She is also an editorial con ...

chose it as one of the Best Children's Books of 2016 in ''The Guardian'' and ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' included it in "The 50 Best Books for Christmas 2016" and in its "Best Children's Books of 2016". In America, ''Publishers Weekly'' selected ''Beetle Boy'' as one of the Best Twenty Middle Grade Books of 2016 and the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

chose it as one of the Best Books for Kids 2016.

References

{{Reflist 2016 British novels 2016 children's books British children's novels The Chicken House books Fiction about insects Children's novels about animals British children's books Beetle literature