“The firefly hovered over the back of my hand, then landed—slowly, effortlessly, I could feel its delicate touch.”

The firefly that lands on Melody’s hand in the opening chapter suggests the symbolic connection that the novel will develop. The fireflies, which Melody’s sister traps in a jar, represent the need for Melody to be free, to fly free of all the limitations she feels. Noah’s nickname for Melody, Miss Firefly, also illustrates this symbolism.

“Well, even though my brain blazes, the rest of my body works like a piece of taffy that’s been left out in the sun for too long. No somersaults for me, unless I accidentally fall out of my wheelchair.”

Melody wants to make clear, as she does here and in other passages, that she is a normal kid with a disability. That’s it. Yes, she cannot entirely control her body—but her intellect is sharp, her creativity unique, and her outlook joyful and optimistic.

“Well, then, we better set them free...”

Penny sets free the lightning bugs she has captured in her jar, foreshadowing her sister’s evolution into the freedom to be who she is. Like the fireflies, Melody compares her experiences at Green Glades to the sheer freedom of flying. It is time, Mrs. V suggests symbolically, for Melody to be free.