The Firefly Code

May 2, 2016
Twelve-year-old Mori narrates this suspenseful tale set in the not-so-distant future in Old Harmonie, a closed community founded by the Krita corporation on the outskirts of Boston. "We never stopped experimenting and innovating," says Mori of her home, "but outside they were just struggling to get by." On their 13th birthdays, children in communities like Old Harmonie learn their genetic code, discover whether they are "natural" or genetically "designed," and reveal their chosen "latency," a hidden aptitude that will then be released through surgery. When a new girl, Ilana, moves onto Firefly Lane, her presence disrupts the comfortable dynamics among Mori and her best friends, Julia, Theo, and Benji, who find something "just a little off" about Ilana, despite her easygoing manner. After their group coalesces into "The Firefly Five," the children's gradual realization of Ilana's true nature leads to shocking and painful revelations about their community, their parents, and themselves. In this gripping novel, Blakemore (The Friendship Riddle) creates a disturbingly ordered world in which questions about friendship and family offer courageous and heartwarming testaments to the human spirit. Ages 8â12. Agent: Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger.