Fireflies in December by Jennifer Erin Valent

() This reminds me a lot of Devil on my Heels by Joyce McDonald. It's set in the same time period and both main conflicts involve local Ku Klux Klan activity. It also helps that the books' covers are similar in style.

The story here is especially interesting though. The main character and narrator is a young teen girl named Jessilyn. Her best friend is Gemma, a black girl that lives on Jessilyn's family's land with her parents. Her parents are loyal workers for Jessilyn's family, but one stormy night - tragedy strikes! Gemma's house is set ablaze by the lightening, and neither of her parents make it out alive. Jessilyn's family takes Gemma in as a daughter, but this is frowned upon by the town due to the racist ideology of the time. Worse still, the family catches the attention of the Ku Klux Klan. Everyone is now in danger, especially Jessilyn and Gemma.

It's an intriguing tale, and I especiallylike how the love interest was kept to the side of the main story. It kept the reader's focus where it needed to be, and used romance as more of a character development tool. The whole thing was skillfully written and paints a clear though unfortunate picture of our country's past.