What the Fireflies Knew Audiobook By Kai Harris cover art

What the Fireflies Knew

A Novel

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What the Fireflies Knew

By: Kai Harris
Narrated by: Zenzi Williams
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An NAACP Image Award Nominee
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize
A Marie Claire Book Club pick

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by *Marie Claire* *Teen Vogue* *Buzzfeed* *Essence* *Ms. Magazine* *NBCNews.com* *Bookriot* *Bookbub* and more!

“Harris rewrites the coming-of-age story with Black girlhood at the center.”
—New York Times Book Review

In the vein of Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones and Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees, a coming-of-age novel told by almost-eleven-year-old Kenyatta Bernice (KB), as she and her sister try to make sense of their new life with their estranged grandfather in the wake of their father's death and their mother's disappearance

An ode to Black girlhood and adolescence as seen through KB's eyes, What the Fireflies Knew follows KB after her father dies of an overdose and the debts incurred from his addiction cause the loss of the family home in Detroit. Soon thereafter, KB and her teenage sister, Nia, are sent by their overwhelmed mother to live with their estranged grandfather in Lansing, Michigan. Over the course of a single sweltering summer, KB attempts to navigate a world that has turned upside down.

Her father has been labeled a fiend. Her mother's smile no longer reaches her eyes. Her sister, once her best friend, now feels like a stranger. Her grandfather is grumpy and silent. The white kids who live across the street are friendly, but only sometimes. And they're all keeping secrets. As KB vacillates between resentment, abandonment, and loneliness, she is forced to carve out a different identity for herself and find her own voice.

A dazzling and moving novel about family, identity, and race, What the Fireflies Knew poignantly reveals that heartbreaking but necessary component of growing up—the realization that loved ones can be flawed and that the perfect family we all dream of looks different up close. African American Coming of Age Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt Inspiring Tearjerking

Dear Listener,

Why did I choose to tell this story through a child’s eyes?
"I wanted to write a story about a young Black girl that might capture what it feels like, what it looks and smells and sounds like, to exist in that body. I hoped to show the nuance and trauma and joy of Black girlhood through this simple tale of a girl's summer—the summer after she lost her daddy, the summer before she found herself. This book was written in memory of my grandfather, whom my sister and I would visit in Lansing during the summer. My experience was entirely different from KB's, but I wanted to capture the essence of those quiet childhood summers in Lansing (which always still found a way to be interesting). The perspective of young Black girls has rarely been authentically captured in mainstream adult fiction. My hope is that this book will give the reader a glimpse of the coming-of-age experience for Black girls, while also highlighting the prevalence and significance of childhood trauma.
All too often, adults forget that kids are experiencing the world too. We don’t respect or acknowledge the trauma they experience. But they’re right there, seeing and hearing and living everything. When we don’t give them space to process, to ask questions, to be honest—we don’t give them the tools they need to heal. I hope this book will remind us adults to listen to kids more often. Because as KB will show you, they have a lot of important stuff to say!" – Kai Harris, writer of What the Fireflies Knew
Beautiful Storytelling • Emotional Depth • Phenomenal Narration • Vivid Descriptions • Rich Voice • Clear Pronunciations

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Her first novel?! Unbelievable! This is such a beautiful story and the narrator does a phenomenal job.

Wow!

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Great messages put In stories relevant to many age groups. The cross generational perspectives weaves together very nicely.
Thank You🙏🏾

Excellent!!

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I loved this look into sisterhood and how life changes this relationship. Enjoyed the characters

A story of sisters

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I loved and hated this book. Loved it for the writing and truth it told in KBs perspective hated it for the way the world is and how that so much is still true today for so many. Kai Harris did a wonderful job of telling the good and the bad of it all.

question everything

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This book was outstanding.
It brought tears to my eyes to read about the lives of this family.

Great Book

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