Nine-year-old Maddy is spending the summer with Grandmere in Bon Temps Bayou. Grandmere knows things by intuition, by observation, and also by her gift, and she suspects Maddy may be the same. Grandmere tells Maddy the story of her great-great-great-grandmother, Membe, who loved Mama Wata, the water goddess, but felt abandoned by her after being captured and enslaved. Mama Wata sent a firefly to comfort Membe, and traveled alongside the boat bringing Membe to America. Like Grandmere, Maddy can call fireflies. But only Maddy can sees the girl in the water who Grandmere is sure is Mama Wata. Maddy feels like a genuine kid, and her exploration of the bayou with a boy named Bear has a sense of everyday adventure in a story that deftly blends magical realism with strongly developed real-world setting and characters. When an explosion on an offshore oil rig threatens the bayou with devastation, the storytelling gains a sense of urgency. Maddy must call on her gift and her courage to reach Mama Wata for help in order to save the place and people she has come to love. (Ages 8–11)

A magical coming-of-age story from Coretta Scott King honor author Jewell Parker Rhodes, rich with Southern folklore, friendship, family, fireflies and mermaids, plus an environmental twist.

It's city-girl Maddy's first summer in the bayou, and she just falls in love with her new surroundings - the glimmering fireflies, the glorious landscape, and something else, deep within the water, that only she can see. Could it be a mermaid? As her grandmother shares wisdom about sayings and signs, Maddy realizes she may be the only sibling to carry on her family's magical legacy. And when a disastrous oil leak threatens the bayou, she knows she may also be the only one who can help. Does she have what it takes to be a hero? Jewell Parker Rhodes weaves a rich tale celebrating the magic within.