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Firefly

Governor General's Awards

Firefly

Philippa Dowding

A middle-grade novel about a girl named Firefly who is forced to rebuild her life at her aunt’s costume shop after a traumatic night separates her from her mother.

Children’s literaturefamilytrauma自己探求

Work Information

At her aunt’s costume shop, Firefly begins to ask what home and family mean.

A middle-grade novel about a girl named Firefly who is forced to rebuild her life at her aunt’s costume shop after a traumatic night separates her from her mother.

Book Information

Publisher
Dancing Cat Books
Published
2021-02-16
Pages
206 pages
Language
英語
Size
20.32 x 1.3 x 13.72 cm
ISBN-13
9781770865983
ISBN-10
1770865985
Price
2222 JPY
Category
洋書/Children's Books/Growing Up & Facts of Life/Difficult Discussions/Homelessness & Poverty

Finalist for the 2021 Governor General’s Literary Award for Young People’s Literature - Text Firefly lived in the park across from her mother’s home. It was safer there. But after the bad night happens, and her baseball-bat-wielding mother is taken away, social services sends Firefly to live with her Aunt Gayle. She hardly knows Gayle, but discovers that she owns a costume shop. Yes, Firefly might be suffering from PTSD, but she can get used to taking baths, sleeping on a bed again, and wearing as many costumes as she can to school. But where is “home”? What is “family”? Who is Firefly, for that matter … and which costume is the real one?

Philippa Dowding's most recent book, Firefly , won the 2021 Governor General's Award for Young People's Literature, and her previous book, Oculum , was a finalist for the Diamond Willow Award and the OLA's Silver Birch Award. She lived on a glacier for one summer in university, and was inspired to write environmental dystopia / cli-fi when she visited it thirty years later and was shocked by how much it had melted. Dowding lives in Toronto, ON.

Reviews

  • A beautiful story

    This is a beautiful story about a girl who navigates her way through challenging life experiences. She finds strength in her own way. Ultimately, Firefly, the main character finds hope and resilience in a difficult world.

  • A book so good, I've now read it twice

    Philippa Dowding's story is a compelling read from cover to cover. The narrative propels the reader along with deft characterization and setting. I loved it. Deserves a GG!!!!!

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