The Nest

The Nest by Kenneth Oppel is a middle grade book about Steve, and the dilemma of his baby brother’s illness. His little brother has a strange disease and their parents are worried and have to go to the hospital a lot. In the story, Steve is confronted by “angels” in a dream, who claim they can help the baby get better.

At the same time, strange white wasps are building a nest on the roof of their house. As the story progresses, Steve discovers the “angels” are actually the wasps and they’re building a replacement baby in the nest on his house.

Steve wishes everything back to normal, but is it too late? The wasps press him to trade babies when the time comes. When the day of the trade arrives, and Steve protects his baby brother against the wasps, but he ends up being nearly stung to death (he has an allergy to the wasps). The baby is finally safe.

I liked the story because it was very different and made me want to keep reading. I recommend The Nest for boys and girls ages 12-15, although I do not recommend it getting read by children with severe allergies as it may be frightening for them.