What the Fireflies Knew

A Novel

De: Kai Harris

Narrado por: Zenzi Williams

An NAACP Image Award Nominee
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize
A Marie Claire Book Club pick

Named 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 Review

In 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.

©2022 Kai Harris (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Harris rewrites the coming-of-age story with Black girlhood at the center.”—New York Times Book Review

"[A] sensitive, realistic portrait of a ten-year-old trying to understand her world in the wake of her father’s death. Sent to spend the summer with a grandfather she barely knows, she contends with her losses and fears while learning more about her family, finding her own voice in the process."—Washington Post

"[What the Fireflies Knew] is not an easy read . . . but it feels authentic, and does what good fiction does: takes readers on a journey they otherwise wouldn’t travel."—Associated Press

Wow!

Her first novel?! Unbelievable! This is such a beautiful story and the narrator does a phenomenal job.

Excellent!!

Great messages put In stories relevant to many age groups. The cross generational perspectives weaves together very nicely.
Thank You🙏🏾

A story of sisters

I loved this look into sisterhood and how life changes this relationship. Enjoyed the characters

Heartfelt

This book spoke so much to pain and healing of black girls and women, mothers and daughters, sisters. There is something in this book for every black girl and woman. Beautifully written from the eyes of a child.

Great story of maturation

This was a great read. Two young girls dealing with loss and growing up. I liked the relationship between the sisters and with their grandfather. Also think the issue of drugs was dealt with well in terms of the devastation and loss drug use/addiction leaves in its wake.

question everything

I loved and hated this book. Loved it for the writing and truth it told in KBs perspective hated it for the way the world is and how that so much is still true today for so many. Kai Harris did a wonderful job of telling the good and the bad of it all.

Great Book

This book was outstanding.
It brought tears to my eyes to read about the lives of this family.

Touches The Heart

A story that reaches deep in to your heart, and teaches you that even bad memories can subside to just a memory.

Delightful

This is a delightful coming of age story that touches topics including race, gender, overcoming adversity, and more. The character development is good and I really felt like I was in the mind of the main character, KB. Grand daddy was alittle confusing at first. The ending was gold as the main lesson was that there is no perfect family, but we can indifference. forgive each other and be a family despite indifferences.

So nice

Not sure what the fireflies knew, but I do know it is a good, honest and complete story. Actually, it could have went on but where the author decided to end it was just right. It brings me joy to have happy endings. Very well written and narration was great. Enjoy!! P.S. I listened to this book in one day. So, it also has good flow.