A Season for Fireflies

There are books one simply enjoys, and then there are the ones that touch us in unexpected ways and keep us thinking about them long after we’ve turned the last page. A Season for Fireflies is one of the few books that falls into the second category.

Penny is your typical teenager, only not really. She’s dealing with family issues most never have to face. She can’t tell her friends for fear of what they’ll think of her, so she pushes them away instead and finds ones who won’t ask the hard question. In short order she goes from theater nerd to high school royalty, leaving behind a girl she’s hurt and a boy whose love just came at the wrong time. She thinks she’s happy, thinks she’s better off.

When a lightning strike erases the last year of her life, she wakes up wondering why her old friends no longer talk to her and barely knowing her new friends. She finds she must recapture the girl she was without losing the one she had become.

This is a true story of second chances and the intense emotions just seep through the pages. It’s impossible not to be touched by them. Watching Penny fall apart is heartbreaking and watching her pull through is inspiring. She’s incredibly strong. Wes, the boy who can’t seem to fall out of love with her, has very really struggles with trusting her again after she all but abandoned him, but he’s also exactly the kind of person anyone would want by their side during such a traumatic time.

An inspiring and heartfelt story that explores what it means to be young and make mistakes, but to have the courage to know you were wrong and do things differently the second time around.

I really enjoyed reading BETWEEN US AND THE MOON (written by the same author), which I thought was a really realistic and heartbreaking book. Here's what I thought of her next book, A SEASON FOR FIREFLIES. YA Contemporary (with romance), A SEASON FOR FIREFLIES is a story about second chances... without realizing that you were at fault in the first place.

Penny Berne is missing a year's worth of memories. When she goes back to her social life, she finds it amazingly changed in so many ways. She has a new group of friends, she lost her old group of friends, she has abandoned her passion for theater, and she is friends with the most popular girl in the school. She begins to put back the pieces together, and in the process, she manages to find herself again.

The story unfolds by starting in sophomore year (late May). It's an awkward entrance, and it doesn't exactly follow the synopsis quite closely. (The synopsis is a tad misleading.) It shows the beginnings of Penny leaving the gang behind, it shows Penny quitting theater, and it shows Penny joining the popular girl. The plot of rediscovery could have been spread out a bit more, however, so it would have more "cushion."

The romance between Penny and Wes, though a part of the book, takes a larger influence over the story, which isn't unexpected. However, though their romance is terribly sweet, it is Penny's relationships with other characters (and her love for theater) which seems to be written more strongly and have a better effect on the story overall.

The relationships are really indeed the best part of the book. I enjoy Penny's dynamic with her new and popular best friend, Kylie. (I must add that I really do love Kylie as a character. That's all I will say about her.)

The ending along is perhaps the best part of the entire book, though. Reading it alone just makes me smile so much, and I absolutely adore it. (But I won't spoil!)

Overall, A SEASON FOR FIREFLIES is a great book. It's great for those who need a book to read, and it's perfect for those who are looking for books about second chances and getting lost and finding the place you're truly meant to be all along. Those who wish for a HEA in BETWEEN US AND THE MOON will find it in A SEASON FOR FIREFLIES.

Rating: Three out of Five