The Possibility of Fireflies

By Dominique Paul

Book Overview

I am sitting on my front stoop. I think it's about midnight. I was busy reading up until an hour ago, but my eyes started to hurt from squinting. Now it's just me and the waiting.It's 1987 and fourteen-year-old Ellie Roma doesn't have much of a family. She lives with her mother, who has taken a break from parenting; and her older sister, Gwen, who is on her way to becoming a juvenile delinquent. Her father left them to start a new life.So Ellie spends a lot of time alone, especially at night, when all she has to keep her company are the fireflies that flicker in the summer air. Then one day a mysterious stranger enters her dark world. He is Leo, twenty-one, who is on his way to Hollywood to become a rock star. Ellie and Leo connect instantly, and Ellie hopes Leo will be the one to rescue her from her unhappy life. But instead, Leo teaches Ellie that no one can save you. You have to go after what you want. So one night -- one terrible, frightening, thrilling night -- that's exactly what Ellie decides to do. With a fresh perspective, first-time novelist Dominique Paul deftly weaves a family drama about chaos and dysfunction, with a young girl's journey of triumph. Full of humor and sorrow, heartbreak and hope, The Possibility of Fireflies is really a story that we all have to tell: the story of the summer we grew up.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416913106
• ISBN13: 9781416913108
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.8" x 5.8"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

Hope and Survival

I read this inspirational novel at the recommendation of a high school English teacher. While on the surface, this story is one of dysfunction, it is really a story of hope and survival. Ms. Paul is very in tune with the challenges many teens face unbeknownst to their teachers and other adults in their daily lives. I would highly recommend this book to teens and any adults who work with teens. This book has left a lasting impression on me and I will think of Ellie and infinite possibilities whenever I see fireflies.

Great book for teens...

Dominique Paul is an amazing author who knows what she is doing. Today, she came to Wootton High School (the high school she attended) and told us about her inspirations and about adapting this book into the upcoming movie! She is such a real person and this book enbodies a lot of what us teens feel on a daily basis. Worth reading...and be sure to root for her upcoming movie which starts production in March '07 www.myspace.com/dominiquepaul

Wonderful book

This book has all the elements of a great novel. It has believable characters that made me laugh and cry. Since I teach high school and know what some students struggle with, I found the book was also very inspirational. It will definitely be on my next list of reccommended books for my students. I applaud Dominique Paul for an absolutely awesome first novel.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Every so often a book comes along that is so good it feels more like it grew than it was written, like it came into being through it's own sheer force of will. That is exactly how I feel about this book. Ellie Roma is a freshman in high school. She has her fair share of normal high school problems; she hates school, she only has a few friends, she`s insecure about the way she looks, her sister seems like she's become an alien, etc. Ellie's got some bigger problems, though. She's new in town. As if that isn't bad enough, they moved three times when they first got to town. The last time was just next door, so everyone in the neighborhood thinks they're nuts. Her parents recently got divorced, and she hasn't seen her dad in a few months. Oh, and her mom has decided to "take a vacation from parenting." Ever since her parents' divorce Ellie feels like nothing in her life makes sense. Her sister, Gwen, has completely switched personalities, from cheerleader to juvenile delinquent. Her mother, well, Ellie says it best; "...it's more like she's come unraveled. Like he was the last bit of glue that was keeping her together, and now that he's gone, all the broken parts can take over." Ellie spends a lot of time locked out of the house, basically living by her mom's whim. It's starting to get to the point where it's easier to lie than to tell the truth. Consciously trying to escape her mother's notice, Ellie has become an observer in her own life. The book is told by Ellie, as things happen. At first it's all observation and barely scratches the surface of Ellie. As the story progresses Ellie opens up more, and allows herself to be a bit more vulnerable. The more vulnerable she lets herself become, the more she begins to be involved in her own life, and the more involved we become. Somehow, before you know it, you are living and breathing inside Ellie's story. By the end of it my heart felt like it had been taken, broken, and given back in the most tender, loving, beautiful way. At its simplest level this is a coming of age story, but it's also a story of survival, strength, love, hope, and most of all possibility. Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman

Wise and witty narrator

It's a thrill to be totally captivated by a first novel and to miss the narrator when you finish. This compelling story of a very perceptive young teenager struggling to find her place in a world of insensitive and uncaring adults will appeal to adult readers as well as the "young adults" who are the readers suggested on the book jacket. Ellie, like Sal in "Walk Two Moons" and Scout in "To Kill a Mockingbird," is a wise and witty observer of the adults in her life who severely disappoint but also provide hope. Her story will stay with you for a long time!