The first summer Bee Hive was open (the store opened in November), was the summer that coincided with the initial sensation that was The Hunger Games. At the time, dystopia was what our kids needed – and the books were coming fast and furious. I can not say that any of them were as good as The Hunger Games, but they served a purpose. Stories based in the future where young badass, usually female, protagonists kick the butts of the always cruel, always evil, and most certainly corrupt – authorities. To me, it felt like a world that our kids needed to escape to. To wrap themselves in stories where the young underdogs rise up to take out the very power that held theirs back – was, and is, intoxicating.

After a couple of years of dystopia having a pretty good run – things in real life got pretty grim. Too…dystopic. For real. The U.S’s administration changed hands, and, almost instantly, so did the genre of choice.

From dystopia…

to…fantasy…

Really excellent fantasy.

Alternate worlds. Sweeping powers. Shape shifting. Portals. Creatures and witches and spectacular magic and epic journeys. None of which remotely resembles what is happening in this world.

Not even a bit.

Glorious escape.

Recently – due to a fairly recent trend in reading – I have beefed up the Bee Hive’s selection of Young Adult murder mysteries…

The bloodier the better.

(The why of this is not something I am quite sure about.)

Dystopia has also made a comeback – the biggest since The Hunger Games summer.

Not terribly surprising.

But…

Magic and fantasy – still rule.

In my house – it is what we are completely honed in on.

Delighted by.

And, grateful for.

After the His Dark Materials trilogy, The Girl That Drank The Moon was followed by The Time of Green Magic and we are now – and I have wanted to do this one forever – happily being enraptured by The Hobbit. (All hail the great and glorious reining king of fantasy.)

But…

The magic, for me, has not just been confined to stories.

Truly, magic is never confined just to made-up tales.

And, I have always known that. All you have to do is witness a rainbow to be reminded that we are surrounded by some seriously mystical stuff.

But, recently, after reading The Time of Green Magic by Hillary McKay where one of the main characters is a drawing of a spotted cat from Chauvet Cave come alive – magic started to really pop out everywhere for me.

“All you have to do is witness a rainbow to be reminded that we are surrounded by some seriously mystical stuff.”

Putting dirty clothes in a washing machine – pressing a button and then taking clean clothes out = magic

My son’s huge, warm, bursting-with-love hugs = magic

Thinking of a person you haven’t seen in a while and then bumping into them = magic

My daughter running the challenging (and unpleasant) 800 meter with rhythm and ease = magic

A project or creative endeavor coming to completion in all its glory = magic

Connecting with people over books, music, movies = magic

A full moon rising with mighty intention on the horizon = magic

Homemade pizza = magic

The Bee Hive = magic…

I totally get the need for the different genres our kids are attracted to and why.

Worlds that are futuristic, violent, sterile, strange, unjust, wild – serve a purpose for hungry imaginations that are in need of something…other…then what the present moment holds…(or perhaps resembling?)

And, it is true that Katniss Everdeen’s very impressive archery skills may be seared into our heads forever.

But, won’t we always be drawn to the fantastical?

The mystical?

The wizard. The force of nature. The washing machine – that make us stop for a beat in wonderment?

There is a reason we are surrounded by magic in stories and otherwise.

It is what softens the edges. Brightens the dark. Keeps us bold…

And, watching.

For whatever…

is around the corner.