Talking about me?” Ginger asked as she came into the kitchen, a cover-up over her bathing suit. She grinned at me. “Want to go swimming, Ry?” Ryanna's mother died when she was just three years old, so the maternal side of her family has always been a mystery as they are estranged. But one day she gets an invitation from her maternal grandparents to come spend the summer at their house in the Poconos. Ryanna agrees as she is curious about her extended family and also she hopes to learn more about her mother. What she thought was going to be a quiet lakeside summer with her grandparents turned out to be so much more. It's not just her grandparents who are there; there are aunts, uncles, and cousins staying at what was once a bustling summer camp that her grandparents operated. Camp Van Camp, an idyllic getaway in the Poconos, is no longer in operation, but is in crisis. Nonetheless, Ryanna's days are filled with all the summer fun you would expect lakeside, hanging out with her cousins, treasure maps, her mom's old books, and more. One old treasure map might hold the key to keeping Camp Van Camp. Morgan Matson's middle-grade debut, The Firefly Summer, is an absolute delight of a summer novel. I frowned—this didn’t sound right. “I thought you met on the set of your movie. That’s what you always told me.” Because you expanded it,” I said with a smile. I’d heard this part of the story before, and it always seemed so romantic to me. “Because you were falling in love with her.”

Design Your Own Treasure Map: At the conclusion of The Firefly Summer, Ryanna finally puts together the clues that lead her to her mother’s buried treasure. Consider the items her mother has buried: Why do they have enough significance to her to be left as a treasure? Next, think about the things you hold most dear. After taking time to reflect, make a list of treasures you’d hide to preserve or protect them. My dad winced slightly, and Ginger reached out and gave his hand a squeeze. “Your grandparents. Your mother’s parents.” I was really bored reading the lives of these sisters with such detail. I didn’t want to know how they did the dishes or everything they said to their pets! I was always expecting something to set the plot off, but this isn’t that type of book. Whenenver something does happen to move the story along, it didn’t feel realistic and I honestly didn’t care enough about the characters to be moved about it. I would have loved this book at ages 9-11. The main character loves mystery books and has a mystery (or a few mysteries) to solve and her trying to get info about the mother who died when she was very young were all my cup of tea and would have also been when I was the target age for this story. The mysteries I could mostly guess from miles away but they were still entertaining. The whole scenario is a bit formulaic I suppose but it worked. I had to suspend disbelief just a bit regarding the main mystery being solved. The situation with Ryanna’s father and grandparents being happily resolved seemed believable because they are all good people. And best of all, she didn’t try to be my mom, or take over my life. It was like she understood it had just been me and my dad for a long time, and she was going to ease in rather than barge in. It had been so drama-free with Ginger that it made me wonder if all the fairy tales with evil stepmothers had been lying.

Although fireflies in Florida are impressive, Texas has one of the longest firefly seasons in the nation. These lightning bugs make a forest or meadow look enchanted sometimes as late as November. Fireflies in the East Glau appeared on the episode "Love Conquers Al" of the TV series Cold Case. She had a small role in the film Sleepover, in which she played the high school senior Shelly. She also appeared in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "What's Eating Gilbert Grissom?", and season two of The Unit as Crystal Burns (the girlfriend of Jeremy Erhart). In 2006, Glau played Tess Doerner, a paranoid schizophrenic returnee in season two's premiere of The 4400, and became a recurring character from season three onwards. She also starred in the horror comedy film Mammoth. Glau was cast in the ABC Family TV movie The Initiation of Sarah.

An only child meets her mysterious extended family and uncovers a real life treasure hunt over the course of one unforgettable summer. There are about 2,000 firefly species. These insects often live in humid regions of Asia and the Americas, where they mostly feast on plant pollen and nectar. Firefly larvae—recently hatched worm-like fireflies that haven’t fully developed yet (including their wings)—feed on worms, snails, and insects. YOU GLOW, GUYSI’d been deep into a mystery—my favorite type of book to read. My current favorite series was Miss Terry’s Case Files, where the heroine, Terry Turner, is a seventh-grade detective who people hire to get to the bottom of things. Whenever I was reading those books, I couldn’t help wishing that I, too, lived in a small town in Vermont with lots of mysteries. Stupid Los Angeles had a lot of private detectives already, so nobody needed to turn to middle schoolers to solve their crimes. Consider the relationships between Ryanna’s cousins. What makes their bond special? In what ways do they support one another? What do you believe to be the biggest challenges to their relationships? Are there any ways in which you see similarities in these relationships with your extended family?

Of course I’m not going to go,” I said immediately, folding the letter up. The summer had been planned out already, after all. The calendar was all filled in. Official - Summer Glau joins Dollhouse season two!". Archived from the original on August 30, 2009 . Retrieved July 8, 2013. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown ( link)I stared down at the letter my grandparents had sent. My thoughts were whirring. What did while she still can actually mean? Did it mean that this was a onetime offer? My only chance to go to Pennsylvania—wherever that was—and see more pictures like this of my mom? Southern states in the U.S. provide some of the best conditions for fireflies. They are generally hot and humid, which is perfect for firefly eggs. Many southern states also don’t experience very cold or below-freezing temperatures, meaning firefly season lasts longer. But when does firefly season begin in the southern parts of the U.S.? Birdie's excessive drinking habit didn't feel right, and the way everyone tiptoed around it or treated it with amused indulgence irritated me. She was overwhelmed by many layers of grief and this would have been a great thread to explore, but it is simply glossed over and given no more importance than anything else happening with the sisters. Every summer the four Ryan children play in the ruins of Fernscourt, the once-grand house on the bank of the river.

Although many firefly species emerge in the summer, some firefly species in Florida light up the sky beginning in February. You can see warm blue and yellow lights in clear forests and state parks. For example, one of the best places to see fireflies in Florida is the Blue Spring State Park. My dad looked down at the paper. “Like I said, I don’t… have a great relationship with your grandparents. And I don’t have the best memories of that place. But if you want to go, Ryanna, you can. Ginger and I think you’re old enough now to decide for yourself.” It would mean upending all my summer plans—but the same thing had happened to Terry in The Hound of the Baskin-Robbins. She was supposed to go to Maine but then got pulled into a mystery about stolen ice cream scoopers. You always had to answer the call. And this was mine.

Next, use the steps offered by National Geographic Kids found here to make a treasure map of your own: https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/home-is-good/how-to-make-treasure-map/ Ryanna wants to learn about her mom, so she accepts. She wants to uncover the mystery of why her father hasn’t spoken to her grandparents all these years. She’s even looking forward to a quiet summer by the lake. But what she finds are relatives— so many relatives! Aunts and uncles and cousins upon cousins—a motley, rambunctious crew of kids and eccentric, unconventional adults. People who have memories of her mom from when she was Ryanna’s age, clues to her past like a treasure map. I was just talking to Ryanna about the… conversation,” my dad said to Ginger, widening his eyes at her.