The Firefly Warriors Club

The Firefly Warriors Club (Texas Boys Adventures)
by Susan Count
Middle Grade Adventure
200 Pages

When I was very young I inherited from my parents a complete set of the Colliers Junior Classics. For those of you not so lucky, it is a ten-book collection of some of the best stories ever told. This is where I discovered Aladdin, Aesop, Peter Rabbit, Black Beauty, Robinson Caruso, Gulliver, and Shakespeare, among many beloved others. It was my prized possession until it was lost during a move in my teens. I picked up a set when my son was seven from my local FOL. He adored it as much as I did. Much like myself, it shaped his expectations of fiction. Well written engaging plots, wonderful characters, and words that resonate across time and reading levels. They just don’t make stories like that anymore. Or do they?

As I read through The Firefly Warriors Club, I found myself thinking of my favorite volume of the CJC ‘In Your Backyard’. It was filled with adventure stories, mostly featuring young protagonists who had to step up to responsibility, much like the young boys I was reading about now. It was a warm and fuzzy feeling.

The Firefly Warriors Club is about Davy and his younger cousin Anderson. They both get to spend a week at their grandfather’s farm and they both have very different ideas about how to spend that time. Davy is a budding entomologist and he is looking forward to finding new bugs to study and catch up on some reading. Anderson on the other hand is looking for fun time and games. They both, however, are concerned about the declining firefly population. All the adults talk about catching fireflies in abundance in their youth, yet these boys have barely ever seen one. One late evening a search for one gets the boys lost in the woods on an unbelievable adventure where they are certain the fireflies have asked for help to save them and their dwindling habitat. Trying to convince the adults of the seriousness of the situation fails at first, but leads them to a possible way they can convince others to help.

Their week with Grandpa is anything but boring. In the midst of a raging forest fire, rounding up cattle, rescuing a cat with an attitude, and realizing that it is their differences from each other that is their strength, The firefly warriors never lose sight of their purpose to save the endangered insects that most people have already given up on.

This book is filled with adventure and fun insect facts. I say that as a person who definitely does not like bugs of just about any kind (though, I do love to watch the fireflies in my yard every summer). The information is wonderfully disseminated throughout the story. Middle-Grade readers won’t even realize they are learning important knowledge. Among the things I learned is that lightning bugs are really fireflies and glow worms are firefly babies and that despite their name they aren’t flies, but rather beetles. There is also a fun fact page at the end of the story.

The book is written for fourth to sixth graders and will be especially great for those interested in ecology or entomology.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

They chase a light and then it chases them… in The Firefly Warriors Club (Texas Boys Adventures) by @SusanCount
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When a mysterious light entices twelve-year-old Davy and his bothersome cousin, Anderson, into the woods, they discover the forest is alive with wonder. Firefly magic dazzles the boys, and they vow to save the insects from destruction.

Then a fire rages in the forest. Despite the cousins’ creative efforts to help the firefighters, the situation for the fireflies plummets from grim to dire. As the blaze consumes the fireflies’ habitat, the young warriors despair.

They enlist the support of the neighboring farms to protect and save the habitat of the magical treasures. If only there was—even one left.

Book Links: Amazon / Bookshop

Susan Count writes for the joy and entertainment of young readers. She is a best-selling, award-winning author of the Dream Horse Adventures Series. Susan confesses to being overly fond of brownies, and horseback riding on forest trails. The Firefly Warriors Club was written for her three grandboys who wanted an adventure of their own. What’s a fairy grandmother to do, but wave her magic pen and create.

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