Overview

While experimenting with substances in the university library, Kymer is confronted by a ghost from KU's past: Carrie Watson, the librarian who is the library's namesake. Carrie gives Kymer the insect field journal of Flora Ellen Richardson, the first woman to graduate from KU. When Kymer reviews the bug diary, she realizes there's a bee in Flora's journal that's never before been identified by science. A wild ride ensues changing the world of entomology, and her personal world, forever. The freshman year away at college can be a challenge-studying, partying, making friends, finding a hookup-but when Freshman Kymer Charvat indulges in recreational drugs with her new friends, an on-campus ghost hands her a mystery to solve. An entomology major entering her first year of college at a far-away mid-western school, Kymer is ready to disengage from her superficial, social-climbing mother. However, this also means leaving her boyfriend behind in Maryland. Soon, she becomes fast friends with her new dorm roommate, Siren, a bold and bosomed young woman with a complicated background, and her classmate, Mattie, an exuberant, gay Black man whose family owns a local restaurant and embraces Kymer and Siren like their own. Together, the trio experience college life at its fullest, which includes some harmless drinking and drug experimentation. Kymer finds herself in need of spending money and manages to land her first real job in the university's natural history museum gift shop. One afternoon, the three friends get high and take a bus to the museum for fun. That's when a second campus ghost, naturalist and professor Lewis Lynsey Dyche, approaches Kymer to give her another hint to help her identify the mystery bee in Flora's bug diary. Soon, classifying the mystery bee is Kymer's main drive. The Bug Diary takes the reader on a wild review of history and bugs, and a laugh-out-loud exploration of campus life! New Adult & College Fantasy.

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9781941237809

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Reviews

This book is a fantastic read. At its heart, it is the story of a young woman finding herself through the first year of college at KU, far from her childhood home. Several supernatural episodes provide one catalyst for self-discovery... The characters feel real and lived-in, and some of the dialogue is downright hilarious. ... Fraley is a natural storyteller, and I am happy to follow wherever she leads. -Karen M. Vaughn, author of Death Comes for the Trophy Wife & Other Stories and A Kiss for a Dead Film Star and Other Stories Fraley's writing is humorous, insightful, and, all in all, kind as Kymer steps into adulthood, meeting new people, recognizing her privileges, making mistakes, and finding that home is wherever you want it to be. That there is a little paranormal activity in a coming of age story set at a university may be a surprise, but Fraley's writing makes it easy to suspend any disbelief. All these elements come together so that it's hard to put the book down. -Eden D, NetGalley Reviewer The characters ... are diverse, and the author has taken these opportunities to briefly highlight ... conversations about privilege and inequality that occur when you're young and naive and finally meeting people with truly different life experiences. ... and her interest in bugs and entomology was such a fresh theme to explore-it really set the book apart from other coming of age stories! I also liked the queerness of this book, and not just the explicitly queer side characters. ... it was refreshing to feel this queerness built into the story so naturally without being picked apart and labelled. ... I really enjoyed this book and would definitely return for a sequel to see what happens next in the lives of these characters! (- And of course for more bugs!) -Mary J, NetGalley Reviewer Amber Fraley's The Bug Diary is a loving and authentic tribute to undergraduate life, to the risks, vulnerabilities-and ultimately profound misunderstandings and awareness-that can arise when young people expose themselves to personal transformation. -Nathan Pettengill, editor, Sunflower Publishing A great read from beginning to end. Fraley had me at the first paragraph. It also doesn't hurt that it is set in Lawrence, Kansas. Rock Chalk Jayhawk. Go KU! -Mark Davoren The tale of Kymer Charvat and her first-year-of-college adventures is a wonderful coming of age story that is altogether relatable, at times hilarious, at others painful, yet decidedly entertaining at all turns. The intertwining of her fictional story with guest appearances from characters taken straight from the historical archives of the University of Kansas is weaved together through paranormal elements that are sure to keep you captivated. Locals from Lawrence, Kansas, as well as KU alumni, will delight in the placement of familiar locales that help illuminate the backdrop for Kymer's story. Though at times readers may worry about some of the protagonist's choices, the fact that they are so engrossed in how Fraley's narrative unfolds leaves this reader longing for a sequel to The Bug Diary. -Tracey Kastens The Bug Diary follows as Kymer, a freshman at the University of Kansas, begins her entomology studies while navigating the changes young adulthood brings-the blossoming of new relationships and reevaluation of established ones, the loosening of family ties, the allure of experimentation. While her academic and life lessons themselves are not atypical, they often come to her in strange ways. I haven't seen many books in any genre which feature a character who loves bugs and isn't portrayed as a weirdo for it, and it's refreshing how her genuine fascination with entomology shines through the book's other details and events. -M. A. Blanchard. NetGalley Reviewer

"""This book is a fantastic read. At its heart, it is the story of a young woman finding herself through the first year of college at KU, far from her childhood home. Several supernatural episodes provide one catalyst for self-discovery... The characters feel real and lived-in, and some of the dialogue is downright hilarious. ... Fraley is a natural storyteller, and I am happy to follow wherever she leads."" -Karen M. Vaughn, author of Death Comes for the Trophy Wife & Other Stories and A Kiss for a Dead Film Star and Other Stories ""Fraley's writing is humorous, insightful, and, all in all, kind as Kymer steps into adulthood, meeting new people, recognizing her privileges, making mistakes, and finding that home is wherever you want it to be. That there is a little paranormal activity in a coming of age story set at a university may be a surprise, but Fraley's writing makes it easy to suspend any disbelief. All these elements come together so that it's hard to put the book down."" -Eden D, NetGalley Reviewer ""The characters ... are diverse, and the author has taken these opportunities to briefly highlight ... conversations about privilege and inequality that occur when you're young and naïve and finally meeting people with truly different life experiences. ... and her interest in bugs and entomology was such a fresh theme to explore-it really set the book apart from other coming of age stories! I also liked the queerness of this book, and not just the explicitly queer side characters. ... it was refreshing to feel this queerness built into the story so naturally without being picked apart and labelled. ... I really enjoyed this book and would definitely return for a sequel to see what happens next in the lives of these characters! (- And of course for more bugs!)"" -Mary J, NetGalley Reviewer ""Amber Fraley's The Bug Diary is a loving and authentic tribute to undergraduate life, to the risks, vulnerabilities-and ultimately profound misunderstandings and awareness-that can arise when young people expose themselves to personal transformation."" -Nathan Pettengill, editor, Sunflower Publishing A great read from beginning to end. Fraley had me at the first paragraph. It also doesn't hurt that it is set in Lawrence, Kansas. Rock Chalk Jayhawk. Go KU! -Mark Davoren The tale of Kymer Charvat and her first-year-of-college adventures is a wonderful coming of age story that is altogether relatable, at times hilarious, at others painful, yet decidedly entertaining at all turns. The intertwining of her fictional story with guest appearances from characters taken straight from the historical archives of the University of Kansas is weaved together through paranormal elements that are sure to keep you captivated. Locals from Lawrence, Kansas, as well as KU alumni, will delight in the placement of familiar locales that help illuminate the backdrop for Kymer's story. Though at times readers may worry about some of the protagonist's choices, the fact that they are so engrossed in how Fraley's narrative unfolds leaves this reader longing for a sequel to The Bug Diary. -Tracey Kastens The Bug Diary follows as Kymer, a freshman at the University of Kansas, begins her entomology studies while navigating the changes young adulthood brings-the blossoming of new relationships and reevaluation of established ones, the loosening of family ties, the allure of experimentation. While her academic and life lessons themselves are not atypical, they often come to her in strange ways. I haven't seen many books in any genre which feature a character who loves bugs and isn't portrayed as a weirdo for it, and it's refreshing how her genuine fascination with entomology shines through the book's other details and events. -M. A. Blanchard. NetGalley Reviewer"

Author Information

Amber Fraley is your typical Gen Xer suburban Kansas wife and mom of one who grew up a book nerd in a dysfunctional family and now writes about those experiences as hilarious therapy. She's the author of the darkly humorous essay collection From Kansas, Not Dorothy, and the viral essay Gen X Will Not Go Quietly, as well as numerous human interest articles. Amber loves Kansas with all her heart, is frequently awkward in public, and desperately wishes to see a tornado and live to tell the tale.

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