Under the Light of Fireflies

Starred review from November 1, 2024
Grades 6-9 *Starred Review* Debut author Sanders delivers a powerful, coming-of-age novel set in 1981 Texarkana, Texas. Twelve-year-old Noah Ellis is looking forward to summer, though he's still coping with his father's accidental drowning earlier that year. Early into vacation, Noah spends a day with Connor, a local misfit, which proves to be unexpectedly pleasant until a tragedy leaves Noah in the hospital with no memory of what happened. Fearing for Noah's mental health, no one will tell him how he ended up in the hospital. The tragedy thrusts Noah into a courtroom fiasco involving a Russian zookeeper, an escaped tiger, a sleazy lawyer, and a towering judge. In his vulnerable state, Noah begins to associate with a group of teenagers that terrorizes Texarkana. Trying to find his place within his family and community, Noah is tempted to join them--but doing so would force Noah to betray himself, his friends, and his family. Sanders weaves a perfectly paced, compelling novel that will challenge and ultimately reward readers. He doesn't shy away from discussing death, sexuality, gender roles, and other topics that become more pronounced for teenagers, and Noah's own complicated choices are handled with nuance. Sanders also captures the '80s beautifully, folding in references to social norms, such as smoking cigarettes indoors, and pop culture. All told, this is a home run.

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April 1, 2025
The summer before seventh grade holds major challenges for an East Texan boy in 1981--from having to choose between his accustomed posse and a chancier but more exciting one to recovering his memory after being mauled by a tiger. In this debut, Noah Ellis, exposed to sudden notoriety as the amnesiac victim of an escaped zoo tiger, turns from his safe, old friends toward a set of popular boys a grade older who have reputations as bullies. A quaint sense of period pervades this tale--not simply because the girls and women are confined to limited, highly gendered roles but also because the boys and men are too. Between games of pinball and mini-golf, the toughs hang out in a clubhouse built in a tree and subject Noah to an elaborate initiation ritual after he tries to impress them the traditional way by stealing an adult magazine. When he sees how some casual vandalism that spirals out of control makes all their swagger and tough talk about loyalty evaporate in panicked flight, Noah reconsiders their ethos and makes a difficult decision about where true friendship lies. Readers may be inspired by his story to examine their own associations--and even if not, they'll be riveted by the grisly, graphic events that Noah at last recalls from that traumatic night. Central characters present white. Strongly boy-centric, with sharp moral divides and some gruesome bits.(Historical fiction. 12-14)

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