“I could tell something was wrong the second I came downstairs,” begins the teen novel The Firefly Summer. This book highlights a story about a teenager named Ryanna. Ryanna never would have guessed walking down the stairs one normal Saturday that her view of a perfect summer would change in the blink of an eye. The Firefly Summer by Morgan Matson is a very well-written piece of literature that is a great read because of the following; the characters, the setting, the plot, and the overall style of the writing.

The main character in this brilliant story is 13-year-old Ryanna Stuart. Ryanna lives with her father and stepmother and lost her mother when she was 4 years old. She is a very well-described and realistic character. The author narrates her appearance and personality which makes her very lifelike. She is also very relatable, based on her fun and friendly personality, which makes her very relatable to a lot of people. In this book, readers will also meet a lot of her family members who are expressed in great detail. Ryanna is a realistically portrayed character from many points of view, and the book's setting impacts this.

This book is set at a non-functional summer camp on a beautiful lake. Morgan Matson details the lake beautifully and creates an image for the reader. She portrays the lake as calm and peaceful which helps the reader make connections to lakes they have seen in the past. Morgan also notes all of the cabins and buildings located within the camp. This helps the reader see all of the different places the story takes place and creates a mental map of the camp. The setting of this book creates a new understanding of the story and also helps the reader understand more of the plot.

The story revolves around a scavenger hunt taken by Ryanna and some of her family members. They are trying to find things from the past and are taken through many curves. This plot is always interesting and never gets dry and boring. The ups and downs of this novel help the reader stay engaged, and even though this book is on the longer side, it is not stuffed full of stuff that is thrown in for length. This book is hard to put down once being started. The plot is a big part of what makes this book so well-written. The events of this book make for lots of interesting parts of the story which the author created in her unique writing style.

 Morgan Matson is the author of this novel and is an author who has written many young adult and teen books. Morgan uses lots of description in her writing which helps the reader create a scene in their mind of places and characters in the book. Though this book has a lot of high-level words, it is easy to understand. She uses solid word choice, making the book more interesting and specific. Morgan Matson has done a great job creating a book that is easy to read and understand, which makes this book great.

The Firefly Summer by Morgan Matson is a very well-written piece of literature. Even though Ryanna was unsure about how her summer would end up she realized that taking a chance could create the most memorable summer of all. Little did she know, she would never regret that decision. I have read this book many times and it is one of my favorite books of all time. After reading, I have taken many things away from this book, including the lesson that taking opportunities is important, even if they are outside of my comfort zone. The Firefly Summer is a very enjoyable book and is something that I would recommend to anyone.