Bonded by books…
When someone shares the amount of love you have for a particular book something special forms, a bookworm bond so to speak. Sandra and I bonded years ago over love for The Secret Life of Bees so when this book was marketed for fans of it we immediately knew we needed to read What the Fireflies Knew.
Summary - A dazzling and moving novel about family, identity, and race, What the Fireflies Knew poignantly reveals that heartbreaking but necessary component of growing upthe realization that loved ones can be flawed and that the perfect family we all dream of looks different up close.
Narrated from the voice of eleven-year-old KB, this book is “an ode to Black childhood.” KB is 10 years old and she is confused. She doesn’t know why her father died, she doesn’t know why her mother drives them to their granddad house and leaves them, she doesn’t know why her new neighbors aren’t allowed to play with her. As the story unfolds you witness right along with KB as she discovers the answers to all of her questions - some heartbreaking and some heartfelt. I think my favorite part was the relationship she forms with her granddad and also the way her relationship with her older sister changes throughout the story.
What’s a book that when you see someone reading it you immediately know you’ll be friends?
Find What the Fireflies Knew at the publisher →
Toni Rocchetti is a copy editor helping authors strengthen their narratives, deepen character arcs, and find the story that is already in the draft. She reads 80+ books a year across literary fiction, memoir, and nonfiction — and writes about what she is learning along the way. Work with Toni →
