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Children give off a similar brave glow, despite the challenges of their young lives. The lessons of childhood are often painful, the shedding of fragile wings in the gloam of an uncertain future. These rich novellas are small jewels reflecting the essence of what it means to grow up dancing among the shadows of life, carrying a brave, small beacon because you know that even the brightest days always, always, end in darkness.
Childhood can be so sweetly sad and sadly sweet, profound and deceptively easy to categorize, yet poignant to remember.
New York Times bestselling novelist Sarah Addison Allen (GARDEN SPELLS, SUGAR QUEEN, THE PEACH KEEPER) anchors THE FIREFLY DANCE with her wistful and funny novella about Louise, a North Carolina girl whose keen observations of the lives around her weaves an unforgettable spell with just a hint of everyday magic.
Phyllis Schieber's Sonya, a child of Holocaust survivors, is confronted with the responsibilities of her legacy when she has a poignant encounter with a classmate, another child of survivors, and her mother, in a local shop in their 1970's New York neighborhood.
Kathryn Magendie's Petey deals wryly with her family's move from the cool blue mountains of North Carolina to the hot flatlands of Texas.
Augusta Trobaugh's stoic Georgia girl leads us through her surreal encounter with a mysterious backwoods toddler who turns out to be anything but ordinary.
Born and raised in Asheville, in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Allen grew up with a love of books and an appreciation of good food (she credits her journalist father for the former and her mother, a fabulous cook, for the latter). In college, she majored in literature -- because, as she puts it, "I thought it was amazing that I could get a diploma just for reading fiction. It was like being able to major in eating chocolate."
After graduation in 1994, Allen began writing seriously. She sold a few stories and penned romances for Harlequin under the pen name Katie Gallagher; but her big break occurred in 2007 with the publication of her first mainstream novel, Garden Spells, a modern-day fairy tale about an enchanted apple tree and the family of North Carolina women who tend it. Booklist called Allen's accomplished debut "spellbindingly charming," and the novel became a BookSense pick and a Barnes & Noble Recommends selection.
Since then, Allen has continued to serve heaping helpings of the fantastic and the familiar in fiction she describes as "Southern-fried magic realism." Clearly, it's a recipe readers are happy to eat up as fast as she can dish it out.
"I love food. The comforting and sensual nature of food always seems to find its way into what I write. Garden Spells involves edible flowers. My book out in 2008 involves southern and rural candies. Book three, barbeque. But, you know what? I'm a horrible cook."
"In college I worked for a catalog company, taking orders over the phone. Occasionally celebrities would call in their own orders. My brush with celebrity? I took Bob Barker's order."
"I was a Star Wars fanatic when I was a kid. I have the closet full of memorabilia to prove it -- action figures, trading cards, comic books, notebooks with ‘Mrs. Mark Hamill' written all over the pages. I can't believe I just admitted that."
"While I was writing this, a hummingbird came to check out the trumpet vine outside my open window. I stopped typing and sat very still, mesmerized, my hands frozen on the keys, until it flew away. I looked back to my computer and ten minutes had passed in a flash."
"I love being a writer."
GoodeRead
Posted October 12, 2011
The stories were very short and was an easy read for short stories. Yet....Nothing to write home about. I love Sarah Addison Allen books and was hoping that this was a newer book, as I am waiting with baited breath for her next book. I hope anyone reading this book does not judge Sarah Addison Allen by this book.
9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.TropicalHouston
Posted November 29, 2011
Like another reviewer, I was waiting for a new novel from Sarah Addison Allen. I enjoy her books and love her writing style. When I purchased this book, I overlooked the fact that it was short stories from other authors as well as Ms. Allen. I did enjoy Ms. Allen's story as well as the one by Phyllis Schieber but did not find the other two authors very interesting. I'm waiting for another novel by Sarah Addison Allen!
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 22, 2012
I've read all ofSarah's revious novels and liked them. She missed the mark on this one!! It is not worth buying.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I'm a fan of Sarah Addison Allen's work and purchased Firefly Dance in order to read her short story. I enjoyed the short stories. They were a nice leisure read. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick escape into simple life stories.
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 24, 2011
I'm a fan of Sarah Addison Allen's work and purchased Firefly Dance in order to read her short story. This was a nice relaxing read that I was able to pick up and put down at my leisure. I enjoyed the stories, but did not find any to be particualry outstanding works. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick escape into simple life stories. Don't expect anything extrodinary from these tales.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Beckyloohoo
Posted March 8, 2012
I received a copy this book for review from NetGalley.
This book is actually a collection of 4 short stories written by different authors. They are not meant to be sweet or pretty memories, but rather more like lessons learned in childhood that were carried over into adulthood. Each story is different in it's theme and length and well-written. However, I would have liked to have seen the stories have some underlying common theme to them to help feel like they were connected in some way. As it is, I felt like they were kind of random. The second story was quite long and I felt it rambled much more than it needed to. I felt like I was pushing myself to finish it. The third story was a little confusing for me so even though I read it I still don't feel like I know what it was really about.
I think that the problem might lie in me, not the stories. These are not the typical stories that I read but it sounded interesting, so I wanted to try it. The stories themselves were well-written for the most part, but I think just not for me.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted August 14, 2012
You know you can put more then two peopl per patrol and lionmoon hasnt been here for a while
0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted August 11, 2012
Lionmoon andi r the same cat . And i make the patrols jow im firestrs jointleader
0 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 11, 2011
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Posted April 6, 2012
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Posted November 26, 2011
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Posted April 26, 2012
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Posted October 25, 2012
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Posted December 5, 2011
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Overview
Children give off a similar brave glow, despite the challenges of their young lives. The lessons of childhood are often painful, the shedding of fragile wings in the gloam of an uncertain future. These rich ...