What the Fireflies Knew
Books | Fiction / African American & Black / General
4
(327)
Kai Harris
An NAACP Image Award NomineeLonglisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel PrizeA Marie Claire Book Club pickNamed a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by *Marie Claire* *Teen Vogue* *Buzzfeed* *Essence* *Ms. Magazine* *NBCNews.com* *Bookriot* *Bookbub* and more! “Harris rewrites the coming-of-age story with Black girlhood at the center.”—New York Times Book ReviewIn the vein of Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones and Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees, a coming-of-age novel told by almost-eleven-year-old Kenyatta Bernice (KB), as she and her sister try to make sense of their new life with their estranged grandfather in the wake of their father's death and their mother's disappearance An ode to Black girlhood and adolescence as seen through KB's eyes, What the Fireflies Knew follows KB after her father dies of an overdose and the debts incurred from his addiction cause the loss of the family home in Detroit. Soon thereafter, KB and her teenage sister, Nia, are sent by their overwhelmed mother to live with their estranged grandfather in Lansing, Michigan. Over the course of a single sweltering summer, KB attempts to navigate a world that has turned upside down.Her father has been labeled a fiend. Her mother's smile no longer reaches her eyes. Her sister, once her best friend, now feels like a stranger. Her grandfather is grumpy and silent. The white kids who live across the street are friendly, but only sometimes. And they're all keeping secrets. As KB vacillates between resentment, abandonment, and loneliness, she is forced to carve out a different identity for herself and find her own voice.A dazzling and moving novel about family, identity, and race, What the Fireflies Knew poignantly reveals that heartbreaking but necessary component of growing up—the realization that loved ones can be flawed and that the perfect family we all dream of looks different up close.
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Author
Kai Harris
Pages
288
Publisher
Penguin
Published Date
2022-02-01
ISBN
0593185358 9780593185353
Community ReviewsSee all
"Such a gripping and deep read. It can get very triggering at some points but overall this was such a great book. Has a lot of important and realistic themes associated with black adolescence and family. I’d suggest this for an older audience however, as the climax is very much for someone above the age of 18. "
"So disappointing. Just okay."
T P
TRACY PARKS
"Strong start, weak (childish) ending"
L R
Laila Rossi
"It was so real and authentic. I was able to fully grasp and immerse myself into this book. By far the best novel I’ve ever read. It felt so familiar and comforting, with a strong sense of love and family. Kai Harris has a true talent of being able to speak to others through this book and create such happy, adventurous, and wondrous feelings in us as readers. It was very relatable in many instances and allowed me to learn more about myself and how lives of others. I learned alot.A true work of art"