The Brilliance of Fireflies

Emma Loukas had a typical teenage life. Until she didn’t. After choosing to stay home instead of accompanying her family to a minor league baseball game, Emma is not present when a suicide bomber detonates an explosive device at the entrance to the stadium just as her family arrives. In the months that follow, grief therapy and the gloomy looks from friends and her extended family do nothing but drag Emma further down into the rubble left behind by that deadly April afternoon.

To escape the sad reality of her new life, Emma heads across the country to California to spend her senior year with her grandmother. Getting away from her former life is the only way to survive. It doesn’t take long, though, for Emma to experience Grandma Connie’s dementia, and it’s more than a seventeen-year-old is capable of handling on her own. Now, Emma fears she has just made her bad situation worse, and she begins to wonder if it’s even worth trying to survive.

But when the family mementos on the dresser catch her eye, Emma feels a bit of light flicker inside her. Maybe the way to make sense of her new life is to live the lives her mom, dad, and brother no longer can. So she sets out to achieve each of their dreams. It won’t be easy, but it’s all Emma has left, and in the process, she just may find out who she’s supposed to be.

About the Author

Leslie Hauser is a middle school teacher, runner, and cupcake enthusiast. She’s also the author of the young adult novel "Chasing Eveline". She’s a Midwesterner at heart—born in Cincinnati, Ohio—but currently resides in Los Angeles, California, with her dog Mr. Darcy. Visit Leslie at .