The Nest

Oppel, K. ( 2015). The Nest. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Steve's mother just had a baby that is sick.  The baby has many cognitive  problems and the family is worried the baby may not live.   One night, after being stung by a wasp, Steve begins to have strange dreams where he thinks he is talking to angels.  The creature he is talking to turns out to be a queen wasp in a nest that is just outside his house.  The wasp tells him that they can make things better.  Steve keeps having dreams where he is talking to the wasp.  She tells him they are making a new, perfect baby for the family inside the nest.  Steve must protect his baby brother before the queen wasp takes him away and replaces him with the new, perfect baby.  He fights the queen and the swarm to protect his brother, with the help of a strange protector, Mr. Nobody.

This is a very suspenseful book that will have readers on the edge of their seat.  The theme of the book is that nobody is perfect.  The main character, Steve, is dealing with some OCD problems of his own.  He comes to the realization, that while his new baby brother has serious health problems, none of us are perfect.  It has some very creepy content that may be frightening for younger readers. I recommend  this book for  fifth grade and up.