MFAW-VT faculty member Sherri L. Smith’s newest novel, The Blossom and the Firefly, is an Amazon Best Young Adult Books pick for February 2020! This WWII love story between a young kamikaze pilot and the schoolgirl assigned to tend him in his final days, comes out February 18th.
For those of you in the Los Angeles area, you’re invited to the launch party featuring a live performance of music from the book at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, CA on Wednesday, February 19th.
The Blossom and the Firefly has been getting great advance reviews, including:
“This absorbing historical novel, set in Japan during eight days in 1945, thrusts two teens in the midst of war into a charged romance.”—Publishers Weekly
“A pensive depiction of young love and endurance amid wartime uncertainty.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Smith’s beautifully written book examines the strength and limits of patriotism, while also being a quiet portrait of deep love . . . This is the kind of high-stakes love story that will leave readers stressed and sighing in equal measure, yet grateful to have seen the portrait of these two lives.”—Booklist
“[Hana and Taro’s] short time together easily lends the story the sighs and swoons of a doomed romance, but their relationship is not so much star-crossed as it is a genuine depiction of two terrified kids finding a respite, however brief, from the hopelessness of war.”—BCCB