Firefly

  • Pages:216
  • Publisher:Cormorant Books
  • Themes:costumes, Halloween, family, runaway, homelessness
  •  
  • Available:02/16/2021
  • Age Groups:Fiction Ages 9-12
Paperback
9781770865983
$13.95

Finalist for the 2021 Governor General’s Literary Award for Young People’s Literature - Text

Firefly lived in the park across from her mother’s home. It was safer there. But after the bad night happens, and her baseball-bat-wielding mother is taken away, social services sends Firefly to live with her Aunt Gayle. She hardly knows Gayle, but discovers that she owns a costume shop.

Yes, Firefly might be suffering from PTSD, but she can get used to taking baths, sleeping on a bed again, and wearing as many costumes as she can to school.

But where is “home”? What is “family”? Who is Firefly, for that matter … and which costume is the real one?

“I know Philippa Dowding is better known for her speculative fiction like Oculum, The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden and Everton Miles is Stranger than Me but I think her first foray into realistic fiction has demonstrated that she has important messages to share and she doesn't need to dress them up in the fantastical. Reality can be just as powerful and colourful, even if stitched with anguish.”
– CanLit for Little Canadian

“Overall, Firefly was an enjoyable read filled with interesting characters, emotional moments, and mental health awareness and education. A realistic book that youth may easily relate to.”

– CM: Canadian Review of Materials
“Firefly is a not to be missed book and I can see why it has received the accolades that it has this year. So many readers will see glimpses of their own lives and their own feelings of otherness and will connect with Firefly in a deep and meaningful way.”
– Storytime with Stephanie
Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Award   | 2022  |  Winner
Kid Committee Summer Reading List for Silver Birch   | 2021  |  Commended
IODE Violet Downey Book Award   | 2022  |  Short-listed
Governor General's Literary Awards - Young People's Literature (Text, English-Language)   | 2021  |  Winner
Forest of Reading Red Maple Award   | 2022  |  Nominated
MYRCA Northern Lights Award   | 2023  |  Nominated
Rocky Mountain Book Award   | 2023  |  Nominated