Detroiter pens Lansing tale

When Kai Harris got the news her book “What the Fireflies Knew” was reviewed in The New York Times, she said, “It was surreal.” For a book by a first-time author to be reviewed in the Times is like winning the lottery.  

Harris’ debut novel is a realistic coming-of-age story of a Black girl and her older sister who are sent to live with their grandfather in Lansing following the death of their father.  

Although the book is a work of fiction, Harris, who grew up in Detroit, did spend summers with her grandfather in Lansing when she was a child, and those summer experiences provide a believable sense of place for the setting of the book. 

Harris is one of a long string of notable writers who have emerged from the Western Michigan University doctoral program in creative writing.  She received the university’s Gwen Frostic Creative Writing Award in Fiction for her short story “While We Live.” She lives in California with her husband and children, where she is an assistant professor of creative writing at Santa Clara University. 

Inspired by real-life experiences of staying with her grandfather in Lansing as a preteen, Harris’ debut novel is the ultimate story of family love, loss and experiences of Black girlhood. “What the Fireflies Knew” is told from the perspective of 11-year-old Kenyatta Bernice (KB), who has just lost her father to an overdose. Her mother, unable to cope with the significant loss, sends KB and her sister Nia to Lansing. As the summer turns to fall, the children begin to worry that they have been abandoned. 

Harris’ novel has garnered several accolades since being published earlier this year from Buzzfeed, Essence, NBCNews.com and more. It was also selected as a Marie Claire Book Club pick and was longlisted on The Center for Fiction’s 2022 First Novel Prize. Meanwhile, early reviews have compared the work to Angie Thomas’ “The Hate U Give.” 

Harris’ book deftly plumbs a common theme of family secrets and how they inform and present us in a contemporary world. In the book, KB slowly learns some older family history that has spilled over into her and Nia’s life. How the discovery will affect them is the book’s overriding theme, which is set in the ’90s. 

Despite taking place in the ‘90s, pronounced racism is woven into the novel as KB discovers that not all parents embrace having their children play with a Black girl. The girl’s grandfather, a mysterious, mercurial character, helps them navigate this complex world and puts them on a path toward independence.  

The book, which is suitable for both adults and young adults to read separately and together, shows how determination, luck and positive adult reinforcement can all be part of growing up. 

Harris, who is well into her second book now, is in the enviable and scary position of having written a major first-time book. She knows it is important to avoid the “sophomore” jinx that’s affected many writers. The phrase “what’s next” is not one young writers especially want to hear. 

Harris said although the book is set in a real place where she and her sister spent summers, it is not autobiographical. Harris said she used her favorite children’s book, “Anne of Green Gables,” as a thematic template for her book, released earlier this year. 

Harris’ appearance at CADL will be the first time in a couple of years since Covid blocked in-person appearances. 

Also on the horizon is spoken word artist Will Langford, who will read from his new poetry collection, “Detroit: Workers, Teachers, Lovers,” at 7 p.m., Nov. 4 at the RCAH Theatre Snyder-Phillips Hall at Michigan State University. The event is free, and parking is free on campus after 6 p.m. Langford, who goes by the moniker “The Poet,” is the founder of the MSU Slam Team and is a Ph.D. student in the College of Education.