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“The summer I turned thirteen, I thought I killed a man.”
So begins the story of Jessilyn Lassiter, a young girl whose world is torn apart the summer of 1932. When Jessilyn’s best friend, Gemma, loses her parents in a tragic fire, Jessilyn’s father vows to care for her as his own, despite the fact that Gemma is black and prejudice is prevalent in their southern Virginia town.
It doesn’t take long for the Lassiters to attract the attention of a local band of Ku Klux Klan members, who make increasingly violent threats on Jessilyn and her family.
As she struggles to navigate a complex world of first crushes, loyalties, and betrayals, Jessilyn ultimately discovers what it takes to be a bright light in a dark world.
When her best friend Gemma's parents are killed in a house fire, Jessilyn Lassiter's parents take the girl in. Trouble is, the year is 1932, Gemma is black, the Lassiters are white, and they live in a small Virginia town. Spunky Jessilyn is 13 years old, but her story will appeal to readers of all ages. Winner of the Christian Writers Guild's 2007 Operation First Novel contest, Valent's debut is both heartwarming and hand-wringing as it shows how one family endured the threats small and large of a prejudiced community while maintaining moral integrity. The cast of characters is rich. Jessilyn's mother wrestles with the social cost of challenging convention, her father is a dream dad and the neighbor's wisdom is as spicy as her cake. Jessilyn's romantic interest and penchant for trouble keep the tone light while the plot reminds readers of the evil that ordinary human beings are capable of doing, even in the name of righteousness. The book stares down violence and terror, making its affirmation of surprising goodness believable. (Jan.)
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Adahlia Cowan
reviewed Fireflies in December on June 01, 2017
Fireflies in December
Man, reading this book made me feel hot.
I literally mean that. It made me feel HOT. It's set in southern Virginia in the 1930s (ergo: pre-air-conditioning), and it takes place in the summertime; and I'm not kidding when I say every single chapter comes up with some new and inventive way of mentally re-creating the "steam bath" that is Deep South weather.
Really good descriptions. Very atmospheric. I liked that. I also loved the interactions between the characters--particularly Jessie and Gemma, and then again Jessie and Luke. Gemma is like the sensible older sister, the responsible kid who has to be yelling at Jessie every other minute to not do whatever it is she's doing (CAN I GET AN AMEN HERE); and Luke is adorable!!! "You and me, we gotta talk." "What for?" "WHAT FOR?!?" Yep, I loved him. The author did an excellent job making it clear how much he liked Jessie, without letting him seem at all creepy for it (I mean, sure, he's older than her; but it all stayed very innocent and appropriate and I appreciated this). I'm really looking forward to seeing more of them as a couple later in the series [even though my library doesn't have the rest of the books--DARN YOU, LIBRARY.]
The one thing I really didn't like was the fact that parts of this book made it feel like it was modeled after "To Kill a Mockingbird"? Like, I definitely understand that any story about racial violence in the Deep South in the 30's is going to have some broad similarities; but I just felt like the similarities were a little too strong here . . . Jessie's overall personality, the courtroom scene, Miss Cleta, the violent confrontation at the end, etc. And maybe I wouldn't have been so bothered by that if TKAM wasn't my 3rd-favorite book of all time; but as it is, I'm kind of sensitive on this point. (Sorry, guys . . . I mean, you've seen my profile picture and all . . . :-P)
So yeah. Overall, though, I thought this was a really good story; especially for Christian historical fiction, which (as you all know) is a genre of which I am not terribly fond. And I'm definitely interested in checking out more of the series and seeing how my ship turns out (Luke + Jessie forever <3)
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