What's Happening at the BSS Library?

Firefly Hollow is a beautiful story of friendship, bravery, and the fulfillment of dreams. Firefly is the best young flyer in Firefly Hollow, and she’s always dreamed of flying to the moon. Cricket is bored at Cricket School, where all they ever learn is to avoid water, sun, and “Giants,” which are the members of the human world. Despite being warned to stay away from the giants, both Firefly and Cricket become fascinated with a miniature giant named Peter, who they sometimes watch playing catch with a friend. Cricket decides he wants nothing more than to become a great catcher like Yogi Berra, whose picture he saw on a baseball card. So Firefly and Cricket leave the safety of the hollow and meet Peter, who is not so scary after all. They also befriend kindly Vole, who has lived alone for many years since all the other voles were swept away in a flood when giants removed a beaver dam near their home on the river. The creatures share their hopes and dreams to each other and become ...

Jerome is a 12-year-old black youth living in Chicago who is playing with a toy gun and is shot and killed by a white police officer. Jerome is not sure why he seems to be lingering around his family and not going to heaven, but when he realizes that Sarah, the daughter of the police officer who shot him can not only see him but communicate with him, he knows he is there for a greater purpose. His role in preventing history from repeating itself becomes clearer when he meets the real Emmitt Till, a boy who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955. Till’s murderers were acquitted, which enraged many people and provided a catalyst for the civil rights movement.  Chapters alternate from the after-life and his conversations with Sarah, Till, and other “ghost boys” to the time leading up to Jerome’s death. This review does not really contain spoilers because it is apparent from the very beginning that Jerome has been shot.  Although Ghost Boys is being told from the main char...