The Firefly Code

In this gripping novel, Blakemore (The Friendship Riddle) creates a disturbingly ordered world in which questions about friendship and family offer courageous and heartwarming testaments to the human spirit. - Publishers Weekly

This creepy, memorable novel is a welcome addition to the relative few utopian/ dystopian books for pre-YA readers . . . An ending that will have readers eagerly anticipating the next installment. - BCCB

The themes are strong, and the depiction of a tightly controlled world at the expense of individuality will surely fascinate fans of Lois Lowry's The Giver . . . A very good selection for middle grade readers drawn to high-concept science fiction. - School Library Journal

Will have children turning pages and thinking about important questions. An excellent choice for those who love Lois Lowry's The Giver or Margaret Peterson Haddix's sci-fi adventures. - Booklist

Less stark than The Giver, this welcome addition to the dystopic utopia genre is a young cousin of Ally Condie's Matched and Mary Pearson's The Adoration of Jenna Fox. - Kirkus

Science, history and literature references glow . . . With keen intelligence and bits of humor, the prose slips calmly between narrative perspectives, trusting readers to pick up a revelation that Ephraim and Mallory don't see--and it's a doozy. This one is special. - starred review, Kirkus Reviews on THE WATER CASTLE

What shines through . . . is Blakemore's tender understanding of how these children--and all children--feel about their lives and the adults who control them. - New York Times on THE WATER CASTLE

It is no mystery that readers will come to love Hazel Kaplansky. - Kirby Larson, Newbery Honor-winning author of HATTIE BIG SKY, on THE SPY CATCHERS OF MAPLE HILL

Thought provoking . . . a tribute to the great girl detectives of children's literature. - New York Times Book Review on THE SPY CATCHERS OF MAPLE HILL