SYNOPSIS

Right before leaving for a summer STEM camp in West Virginia, Javari finds out that his parents, sister and grandpa are getting evicted from their Brooklyn apartment because they can’t afford rent.

The camp – set in the woodsy campus of a small private college – offers little respite from home stress, with Javari feeling excluded and mocked.

A masked “beast” causing havoc around campus gets campers’ imaginations spinning but Javari finds out it is a local boy and befriends him after sneaking out of his dorm.

Cricket takes Javari on nightly escapades to meet neighbors, learn about the town’s tense racial and labor history, and see the most beautiful summer occurrence – a brief shimmering congregation of fireflies in a secluded hollow (or ‘holler’, as the locals call it.)

Javari’s team – consisting of him and two similarly ostracized girls – discovers through their summerlong project that the college founders caused deadly water pollution with their mining business.

Javari also discovers Cricket has (unrequited) romantic feelings for him, right before Cricket is assaulted by camp security and ends up in the hospital.

While Javari’s parents feel regretful for sending him to camp, they soon discover the experience has been eye-opening and rewarding for him.

PERFECT AGE 11 – 14

We love

• Through his big personal growth over two weeks, Javari remains authentic and believes in himself but he also lets the surroundings – local history, new town friends, fellow campers – teach him quite a bit.
• An engrossing narrative that keeps the reader engaged throughout; and so much can happen in two weeks only because Javari is busy day and night!
• The descriptions are so well handled that you can really imagine the surroundings.

WATCH OUT FOR (Language, Big / Sensitive Topics, Outdated Concepts):

• The book starts with a description of a street protest gone bad – NYC residents standing up against racism and police violence get embroiled in police violence… – and Javari’s mom’s anti-police passion runs high.
• Grandpa, whom Javari loves and confides in, has outspoken distaste for white people (which Javari recognizes and assigns to generational differences.)

CONVERSATION STARTERS

• Our impression of the bald white man harassing Javari on the bus changes quite a bit over the course of the book. Why do you think that is?
• Why do you think Javari keeps sneaking out in the middle of the night to hang out with Cricket? What gets him interested?
• How is the school-founding family responsible for the water pollution in the area?
• What do you think Javari will remember most fondly about his summer at camp? Why?
• What was your favorite experience of Javari’s in the book? Why?