In CATCHING FIREFLIES, the second in a series which began with Sweet Magnolias, the main theme is school bullying, an age-old problem made more vicious by the age of the internet. In Sherryl Woods' story, a young girl is the victim of taunting rather than physical bullying.

Laura Reed, the English teacher in a town called Serenity, notices promising pupil Misty Dawson skipping classes to avoid Annabel, a more 'popular' girl. In fact, Annabel thinks that Greg, a handsome football player, is interested in Misty and doesn't like it. In retaliation, Annabel begins to harass Misty online. Greg is reveling in being the center of female attention but Misty just wants to be left alone. It doesn't help that Misty's mother is fighting divorce proceedings and is suffering from depression, barely able to take care of herself and her two children. Unwilling to add to her mother's burdens, Misty asks the local pediatrician for a note to get her out of school. He sensibly refuses and encourages her to share her troubles with another adult. Misty chats with Laura Reed but doesn't tell her what is at the core of her unhappiness.

Mixed in with this sad tale is the happier one of Laura Reed and JC Ellerton, the pediatrician, who get together over their concern for the girls in their care and turn friendship into romance.

CATCHING FIREFLIES incorporates characters from Sherryl Woods' previous book. Fans of the Sweet Magnolias series will be happy to see their return. Being new to the series and reading this as a standalone story, I found the inclusions of several pages of girl talk and drinking as an interruption to the flow of the detailed and slow-burning story. The one thing that did not ring true was the adults failure to quickly recognize the possibility of cyber bulling, given the media attention this topic has received.