September 16, 2024
Under a starry sky in a flower-filled field, the brown-skinned child narrator of this picture book closes their eyes and wishes on a firefly, “to stay.” Turning pages reveal that the wish represents, for frequent new-kid Chloe, “the first foster home where I didn’t hide. And the first school where I made friends!” Chloe still worries about having to say goodbye to their foster family, but the year has “felt like a happy dream”—one in which they got straight A’s, learned to play tennis, and enjoyed dance parties. Though the child recognizes the presence of uncertainty, they also acknowledge, “I will always have memories of the year I... baked cookies, dreamed with fireflies, laughed with my friends, made a wish”—a wish that, Clarkson’s slight, strongly emotive prose suggests, may pan out. Jarema’s pastel-hued gouache, acrylic, and digital illustrations give a soft feel to this hopeful work, which is scattered with images of stars and rainbows. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8.