Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 04/18/2025 Gr 1–4—This lovely picture book is the true story of Lynn Frierson Faust, a citizen scientist who helped prove that synchronous fireflies exist in both North and South Carolina and in Tennessee, even though scientists at the time believed the species only existed in Asia. Faust grew up spending summers at a remote family cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains. When the cabin and its land became part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Lynn and her family lost access to it, but she never forgot the magic of watching fireflies from its porch. Through her own research, she found out that the synchronous fireflies were quite unusual and set out to prove that what she had witnessed was real. This is a story of persistence and patience as well as the inspiration to explain a natural phenomenon. The artwork is beautiful, particularly the images of the fireflies, which are hard to capture and even more difficult to try to explain to someone who's never seen them. VERDICT This is an excellent book to share with students who are thinking about their own future scientific explorations as scientists or entomologists.—Debbie Tanner - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 05/01/2025 *Starred Review* Attentive young Lynn relishes the “dark crystal waters” of the swimming hole and treasures of “the light-dappled forest” of Elkmont in the Great Smoky Mountains. She spends summers exploring the woods from a family cabin there, though the Park Service is now displacing park residents. Curiosity about a striking synchronous firefly phenomenon—a hypnotizing six-second “spangled beat” that has mesmerized her her whole life—leads self-taught naturalist Lynn Frierson Faust down a long and rewarding research path that eventually proves these special lightning bugs’ (Photinus carolinus) existence to the scientific community and invites the world to appreciate their wonder. Immersive watercolor-and-digital paintings create a world readers will long to get lost within, with moss clinging to hulking boulders and the shimmer of countless fireflies lighting up the darkening sky. A notable variety in perspectives and page layouts includes panels and lush full-page spreads, while a brilliantly designed rendering of the “exquisite unity of the light show fireflies” interspersed with swaths of darkness is a visual showstopper. Evocative language keeps pace, pairing admiring details about Lynn’s patient work with pleasingly detailed descriptors of her environs: “Light cascades down the hillside, like a glittering, star-filled waterfall.” Rich back matter demonstrates thorough research and supports young naturalists’ continued curiosity. An absolute must-purchase—truly enlightening and positively radiant. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.