The Time of the Fireflies

by Kimberley Griffiths Little

Overview

Critically acclaimed author Kimberley Griffiths Little spins a thrilling story of one girl's race to unravel the curse that has haunted her family for generations.

When Larissa Renaud starts receiving eerie phone calls on a disconnected old phone in her family's antique shop, she knows she's in for a strange summer. A series of clues leads her to the muddy river banks, where clouds of fireflies dance among the cypress knees and cattails each evening at twilight. The fireflies are beautiful and mysterious, and they take her on a magical journey through time, where Larissa learns secrets about her family's tragic past -- deadly, curse-ridden secrets that could harm the future of her family as she knows it. It soon becomes clear that it is up to Larissa to prevent history from repeating itself and a fatal tragedy from striking the people she loves. With her signature lyricism, Kimberley Griffiths Little weaves a thrilling tale filled with family secrets, haunting mystery, and dangerous adventure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545634069
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	07/29/2014
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	721,465
Lexile:	720L (what's this?)
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Kimberley Griffiths Little is the author of THE HEALING SPELL, CIRCLE OF SECRETS, and WHEN THE BUTTERFLIES CAME, as well as dozens of short stories that have appeared in numerous publications, and the novels BREAKAWAY, ENCHANTED RUNNER, and THE LAST SNAKE RUNNER. She is the winner of the Southwest Book Award. Kimberley lives near the banks of the Rio Grande in New Mexico in a solar adobe house with her husband and their children.

Read an Excerpt

From THE TIME OF THE FIREFLIESMy brain seemed to turn to mush. My vision filled with only the thick swarm of fireflies, and I couldn't see the bayou in front of me any longer. The tiny flying creatures lighted along my arms, touched each of my fingers, tugging at my shoulders, urging me forward. How very peculiar. I couldn't seem to think straight. What were they doing? Luring me into the water? If I fell in nobody would ever find me in the dark. Nobody would even hear me scream. I'd drown like Gwen. Only worse. She'd been found. I might never be seen again, but pulled out to sea for real this time. The moon rose across the murky waters, a thousand ripples silently moving across the surface. The fireflies danced faster, thick as heavy syrup, the light blinding and beautiful. I was in a tunnel of light and yet, I wasn't scared. They didn't want to hurt me. Only wanted to -- to show me something. Maybe I was dreaming! Or going crazy. My head ached, and I took two more steps forward. The fireflies were right there with me, kissing my cheeks, my hair, propelling me forward. The bridge shimmered in the moonlight, and all at once the edge where the planks had collapsed into the water had miraculously been fixed. The rusted nails were gone. The broken, empty space filled up with brand-new planks, tight and strong and sure. The bridge stopped shuddering as I stepped closer to the middle of the river. Protected by the fireflies. Like a miracle. I rubbed my hot neck as the image of the perfect bridge wavered like a mirage in front of me.

Editorial Reviews

05/01/2014
Gr 4–6—Larissa Renaud's scar burns down the side of her face every time the doll her Mamma keeps locked in the upstairs cabinet looks at her. The angry slash reminds Larissa of her terrible accident at Bayou Bridge, the same bridge where her aunt Gwen drowned as a young girl. The scar warns Larissa not to play with or talk to any of the kids in the town who forced her off the bridge. The scar makes Larissa think that her Mamma, pregnant and anxious, doesn't think she is beautiful anymore. Then Larissa starts getting phone calls on an ancient telephone in her parents' antique store—a phone that has long been disconnected from the wall. "Trust the fireflies," the voice tells her. Believing that the message is a matter of life and death for her family, Larissa lets the fireflies swirl her across the dangerous river to travel back in time to her ancestor's rich sugarcane estate. Bouncing through the generations, Larissa begins to piece together the history of the blue-eyed heirloom doll, Anna Marie, that her mother keeps. Bought on the Island of the Dolls and infused with a powerful spirit, the doll that Larissa's great-great-grandmother stole from a servant girl became a curse for each generation thereafter. The evil doll has been at each tragic, untimely death, and Larissa soon figures out it is her Mamma and her newly born sister, Emilie, who are the next targets. Can Larissa find a way to save her family, and perhaps heal her own wounds? This is a haunting, well-constructed tale that keeps readers guessing until the end. The feel of the old bayou infuses the story and the well-developed characters fit into the landscape, moving along in a plot filled with suspense, adventure, and mystery. A perfect choice for lovers of ghost stories, historical fiction, or just a good yarn.—Clare A. Dombrowski, Amesbury Public Library, MA

School Library Journal

05/19/2014
Little returns to the Louisiana bayou setting of The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets in a summer story that follows 12-year-old Larissa Renaud in her quest to save her family from past tragedies that are bleeding into their future. It all begins with an ominous call from a disconnected phone in the antique shop her family has moved into. “Find the fireflies. Trust the fireflies,” insists a mysterious voice that somehow knows who Larissa is. Her family has recently returned to her mother’s childhood town so Larissa’s mother can make peace with her sister Gwen’s death. After Larissa learns that the fireflies can transport her to the past, she tries to unpack decades-old secrets that may threaten her family in the present day and that seem to be connected to a doll that belonged to her mother’s late sister. Little’s strengths lie in building a strong sense of the history of a place, its inhabitants, and how one can greatly affect the other. A satisfyingly creepy mystery, wrapped up in the bonds of family. Ages 8–12. Agent: Tracey Adams, Adams Literary. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for WHEN THE BUTTERFLIES CAME

"Readers should respond to this perplexing puzzle and its resourceful heroine."
--KIRKUS REVIEWS
"Engrossing -- right from the very first line." --BOOKPAGE

Praise for CIRCLE OF SECRETS

"Little's rich, vivid prose and characterization create an intriguing universe in which realism and mysticism intertwine as the story's secrets unravel." --SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, starred review
"Readers will revel in the literary journey through a rare and unusual way of life."
--BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Praise for THE HEALING SPELL

"An incantational tale of Cajun magic and gators in the bayou and of the love and silence between mother and daughter." --Richard Peck, Newbery Award-winning author of A YEAR DOWN YONDER
"[A] well-crafted story about fully drawn people. The bayou, with its rich culture, is an atmospheric character that overlays the story with mystery and dread. A special offering for readers seeking a challenge of the heart as well as the mind."
--BOOKLIST

From the Publisher

2014-05-04
Disconnected vintage telephones occupy an entire section of Bayou Bridge Antiques. When one of them suddenly starts ringing, the eeriness quickly escalates.The voice on the line orders Larissa to follow the fireflies, and when she obeys, she is transported through time to witness scenes from various moments in her family's past. As she tries to puzzle out what is happening to her, Larissa realizes that there is a constant in all of the riveting vignettes she witnesses: the presence of a beautiful, perhaps-magical doll that is now one of her mother's prized possessions. Larissa must figure out how the doll figures into her family history, which has been plagued by tragedies, including Larissa's own near-drowning, before her mother and unborn baby sister become the next victims. Suspense builds quickly and doesn't falter until the mystery is solved and restitution is made for long-ago transgressions. Larissa's first-person narration is fresh and engaging, and the richly evoked south Louisiana setting serves to ground this ethereal tale in a real time and place while contributing to the mysterious mood it requires.For those fond of exceedingly creepy but not-too-violent stories of the supernatural. Fans of Mary Downing Hahn will devour this one. (Paranormal thriller. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews