By Erica Gomez (author)
"A magical parallel school plus a pair of young detectives add up to a gripping Middle Grade mystery."
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February 2025 Debut of the Month
Fuelled by a fabulous concept — a magical school within a school, a missing dad, and two super-sleuth kids, Siddy and Zadie — Erica Gomez’s School for Fireflies is delivered in a wittily lively style.
It’s also energetically characterful, as demonstrated by Zadie’s amusing, endearing quirk of speaking in punctuation — “Ampersand” when she needs more info, “EXCLAMATION MARK” when something weird or funny happens, “Question mark” when she needs more answers.
More answers are definitely needed when the friends’ everyday life of school and listening to detective podcasts is interrupted by the appearance of flickering fireflies. Turns out, they’ve been called up to a secret magical school within a normal school. While crafting their magical skills, they uncover a mystery that sees them muster their detective skills like never before.
With high-stakes edge provided by the promise that they might just find out why Siddy’s dad disappeared, School for Fireflies combines the intrigue of a classic mystery story with contemporary sass and age-old magic to terrific effect.
Siddy and Zadie are two normal 11-year-olds, obsessed with solving mysteries like their favourite detective podcast - until they discover they are anything but normal.
Read the full description
Instead of starting at their normal new school, they’ve been enrolled in the parallel School for Fireflies. Amidst the excitement of learning they are here to develop their magical skills. they discover a decades- old mystery waiting to be solved. The girls set out to use all their detective knowledge, and soon find that the clues just might lead them to the reason Siddy’s dad disappeared years ago...
Erica Gomez was born and raised in London to Nigerian parents. Her love of fantasy was sparked by a childhood belief that clouds were floating islands. When she’s not writing or attending physiotherapy, she’s obsessing over Lego sets and dreaming about sausage dogs. School for Fireflies is her debut novel.
Erica wrote School for Fireflies as a coping mechanism after a medical incident left her paralysed for a year. She was subsequently diagnosed with a neurological disorder and lives with chronic pain. For her day job she is a fully-trained lawyer, but she has always loved stories and writing.
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Siddy and Zadie are two normal 11-year-olds, obsessed with solving mysteries like their favourite detective podcast - until they discover they are anything but normal. Instead of starting at their normal new school, they’ve been enrolled in the parallel School for Fireflies.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed School for Fireflies and determined it is suitable for children aged 9-12 years old
School for Fireflies features in the following genres: Featured Books for 9+ readers, Featured Books for 11+ readers, Debuts of the Month, Recommendations, Adventure Stories, Crime & Mystery, Stories about Family and Friends, Fantasy / Magical, School Stories, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational
Paperback. Not Available.
School for Fireflies was written by Erica Gomez and published by Knights Of
School for Fireflies has 263 pages
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