I was actually searching for a fantasy book, but stumbled upon a good old-fashioned ghost story instead.
Little, Kimberly Griffiths. 2014. The Time of the Fireflies. New York: Scholastic.
Larissa Renaud doesn't live in a regular house. As she tells it,
"My parents moved us into the Bayou Bridge Antique Store—a fact I do not brag about. It's embarrassing to admit I share the same space as musty, mothball-smelly furniture, dusty books, and teacups that dead people once drank from."
Sometimes she wishes they had never come back here from Baton Rouge, but her family has a long history in the bayou town, much of it is tragic.
When Larissa receives a mysterious call on a broken antique phone, she's got a real mystery on her hands.
"Trust the fireflies,"
the ghostly girl tells her, setting Larissa on a strange and eerie path of discovery. Can Larissa right the wrongs of the past to save her family's future?
Though it highlights rural poverty, bullying, and new sibling issues,
The Time of the Fireflies is at heart, a ghost story with a remarkably likable and resourceful protagonist.
To avoid giving away too much, I'll merely mention that readers may see some similarities to Rebecca Stead's Newbery Medal-winning,
When You Reach Me. The spunky Larissa and author Kimberly Griffiths Little will draw you into the rich world of the Louisiana bayou until you too, are carried away by the fireflies.
(My copy of the book was provided by the publisher as an Advance Reader Copy.)
Peck, Richard. 2009.
A Season of Gifts. New York: Dial.
In
A Season of Gifts, Richard Peck returns to rural Illinois and the small town that larger-than-life Mrs. Dowdel calls home. This time, the year is 1958 and Elvis, television and Civil Defense are the buzz words of the day when the Barnhardts move into town. A poor Methodist preacher in a town of "foot-washers," Mr. Barnhardt and his wife have their work cut out for them, as do their children - narrator, 12-year-old Bob, younger sister Ruth Ann, and Phyllis, a high-schooler on the road to trouble. Local kids don't feel any brotherly love for PK's (preacher's kids).
Although each of the books in this companion set
A Season of Gifts (A Year Down Yonder and
A Long Way from Chicago) has its own narrator, it is the over-sized, outrageous Mrs. Dowdel who dominates the story. And though she "doesn't neighbor," and is often trigger-happy,
I'm about a squat jump away from a loaded Winchester 21, ...and I'm as tetchy as a bull in fly time,
underneath her flap hat, apron, boots, and afghans, she's got a heart of gold.
Like a master comedian, storyteller, or practical joker, Peck takes his time in setting up the dry humor that characterizes Mrs. Dowdel. The reader, so engaged in the story, never sees the setups that span a chapter, two chapters, even the entire book. Mrs. Dowdel is always one step ahead.
A Year Down Yonder is still my favorite, but
A Season of Gifts runs a close second. Highly recommended.
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Peck, Richard. 2000.
A Year Down Yonder. New York: Dial.
I admit that I don't "get" America's Heartland. Other than a few trips to Texas, Colorado, and Louisiana, I usually think of the Midwest as something in between where I am and where I'm going. So it was with great pleasure that on my recent vacation, I became acquainted with the rural Illinois of the Depression-era, and I fell in love with it! Mary Alice and Grandma Dowdel are two of the best characters in children's literature, and I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to find them. If you haven't read
A Year Down Yonder, you're missing a very funny and heartwarming (but never sappy) story. Many reviews are available of this 2001 winner of the
Newbery Medal winner. (The original PW review nailed it.)
Now I can't wait to read its prequel,
A Long Way from Chicago (downloading to my mp3 as I type), and Peck's latest,
A Season of Gifts.
