Holler of the Fireflies
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A boy from the hood in Brooklyn travels to a STEM camp in an Appalachian holler for one epic, life-changing summer in this brilliant novel from the award-winning author of The Stars Beneath Our Feet.
Javari knew that West Virginia would be different from his home in Bushwick, Brooklyn. But his first day at STEM Camp in a little Appalachian town is still a shock. Though run-ins with the police are just the same here. Not good.
Javari will learn a lot about science, tech, engineering, and math at camp. And also about rich people, racism, and hidden agendas. But it’s Cricket, a local boy, budding activist, and occasional thief, who will show him a different side of the holler—and blow his mind wide open.
Javari is about to have that summer. Where everything gets messy and complicated and confusing . . . and you wouldn’t want it any other way.
J + C + summer = ∞
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Moore (The Stars Beneath Our Feet) covers timely social issues in this richly wrought fish-out-of-water story that takes a 12-year-old Brooklynite gamer to Appalachia. After Javari Harris's family returns from protesting a local event of police brutality, an eviction notice all but seals the family's ejection from their long-term home in rapidly gentrifying Bushwick. The opportunity to attend a STEM camp at a West Virginia Christian college becomes more appealing when Javari sees an opportunity to win the camp competition's cash prize and help with back rent. Upon arrival, quiet Javari—who doesn't like meeting new people and has an unspecified eye condition—meets an assortment of richly limned characters. But it's Cricket, a light-skinned Black 13-year-old local, who impacts his summer most significantly. Between experiencing Affrilachian culture alongside Cricket and navigating racism at the ethnically diverse camp, Javari encounters ways in which the region's history intersects with his own. Relational segments engage with Javari's former Amtrak porter grandfather and the Appalachian town's local residents, interweaving realities around colorism and racism, corporate ethics and pollution, generational trauma, and opioids in a complex novel that effectively highlights how long-standing histories can connect and divide. Ages 8–12.
Customer Reviews
Best book ever🚫
This is the best book in probably whole universe ! Plus you should do more New York City, Book’s Man!