Firefly Summer

by Pura Belpré

At a plantation in rural Puerto Rico around the turn of the century the foreman pursues the mystery surrounding his family.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Pura Belpré (February 2, 1899 – July 1, 1982) was the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York City. She was also a writer, collector of folktales, and puppeteer.

Belpré was born in Cidra, Puerto Rico. There is some dispute as to the date of her birth which has been given as February 2, 1899, December 2, 1901 and February 2, 1903. Belpré graduated from Central High School in Santurce, Puerto Rico in 1919 and enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras, where she originally planned on becoming a teacher. But, in 1920, Belpré interrupted her studies to attend her sister Elisa's wedding in New York City, where she was recruited by a public library effort to hire young women from ethnically diverse backgrounds. This first job led to a remarkable career that had Belpré travel the city, from the Bronx to the Lower East Side, telling stories in both English and Spanish, something that hadn't been done before. Belpré broke the barriers that led the Spanish speaking community to believe the library was "only English." Except for brief interludes, Belpré remained in New York City for the rest of her life.

Reviews

[Andrea Bastien · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basically reads like a poorly translated Puerto Rican blend of Little Women and Gone with the Wind for kids, with zero character development and a flatlined plot. Can’t believe we have a whole set of these in the book room at school, waste of shelf space.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm teaching a unit about the Pura Belpré award to my elementary students in library this year, so I wanted to find out more about her by reading some of her own work. This is one of those books that is quite simple, but I have a feeling it will stay with me and I'll find myself thinking over parts of it in the future. Nothing really much happens, honestly; there's not much of an over-arching plot moving things along. It's mostly a reminiscence of what country life in Puerto Rico was like in that era. But, it's such a lovely snapshot! It's not wholly idyllic (there is hard work and sorrow), but it feels refreshingly clean, like one might imagine the well-swept and orderly "neck" of the house to be. I think our world would be better and more interesting if we had such diary entries of more places and times. Books that recognize the value of simple, everyday living in all its variety are a vital page of the literary works of the world, whether they are "great literature" or not.

[AverageHŪMAN · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have never read a book so dull and boring as this one. If you want to read a book about a girl that does nothing but pick berries and sew ribbons for 2000 pages then this is the book for you. If they spent more time developing a plot then talking about how the grandmother specifically sewed a pillow then MAYBE it might have been more interesting. They go into too many small details that aren’t necessary to the story. I swear, if you only read the parts where something interesting happens then the book would only be two minutes long. Also the best characters in the book were, the peasants and the “road children” hands down.

Some side notes:

most of the time you can skip a bunch of pages and the story will still make (some) sense

There was a story within the story. It was actually way more interesting and I would have rather read that instead.

I get that they have a big family, but they were so uninteresting that I couldn’t remember who they were for most of the book. They basically had no personality.

Somehow I was more concerned about the side character then the actual characters. Why should I care about a somewhat wealthy family that has no issues in their lives. Idk but a story about a young peasant boy that strives for a better life and climbs to the top through trial and error seems like a better book then, “I go do summer stuff with my friends and we talk about fruit or something”.

[Erin B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely description of the land. The hurricane account was so vivid! Loved all the descriptions of the cultural activities. Found the shifting cast of characters to be a bit confusing... a character named Lucio and another named Lucia was not helpful. Colonizer POV at times.

I read it to my 11 and 13 yr old. They loved it and said I should give it a 4.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd heard so much about the prize named after Pura Belpre' that I decided to read one of her books. Firefly Summer is a children's book about life on a finca (plantation)in Puerto Rico. Teresa is allowed to leave school before the summer officially starts because of her excellent grades. She's excited to go home to her family's finca to see her father and her friends. Teresa lives through a hurricane and several different local celebrations which are described here with great love. She learns to make lace and enjoys having her best friend, Mercedes, stay with her for the summer. There is a mystery involving the family of a little boy taken in by the family and Teresa helps unearth more information. Some things in the book seem a little patronizing such as referring to the campesinos as peasants, even though other Puerto Rican words are used but all in all, this is a pleasant book about a long ago time in another country.