Reviews for Firefly Summer

The average rating for Firefly Summer based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-11-24 00:00:00 Riaan Olivier I'm teaching a unit about the Pura Belpré award to my elementary students in library this year, so I wanted to find out more about her by reading some of her own work. This is one of those books that is quite simple, but I have a feeling it will stay with me and I'll find myself thinking over parts of it in the future. Nothing really much happens, honestly; there's not much of an over-arching plot moving things along. It's mostly a reminiscence of what country life in Puerto Rico was like in that era. But, it's such a lovely snapshot! It's not wholly idyllic (there is hard work and sorrow), but it feels refreshingly clean, like one might imagine the well-swept and orderly "neck" of the house to be. I think our world would be better and more interesting if we had such diary entries of more places and times. Books that recognize the value of simple, everyday living in all its variety are a vital page of the literary works of the world, whether they are "great literature" or not.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-05-30 00:00:00 Mike Brown I'd heard so much about the prize named after Pura Belpre' that I decided to read one of her books. Firefly Summer is a children's book about life on a finca (plantation)in Puerto Rico. Teresa is allowed to leave school before the summer officially starts because of her excellent grades. She's excited to go home to her family's finca to see her father and her friends. Teresa lives through a hurricane and several different local celebrations which are described here with great love. She learns to make lace and enjoys having her best friend, Mercedes, stay with her for the summer. There is a mystery involving the family of a little boy taken in by the family and Teresa helps unearth more information. Some things in the book seem a little patronizing such as referring to the campesinos as peasants, even though other Puerto Rican words are used but all in all, this is a pleasant book about a long ago time in another country.