'Growing up, nearly everyone at home told me I wouldn't learn anything reading a book, so I decided to write one myself.' Ed Tar's debut book, Reaching for Fireflies . . .Decisions That Extended My Grasp, is the powerful story of how he decided, at the age of nine, to resist the negative forces around him. Through sheer will, instinctive street smarts, creativity and relentless hard work, he changed the direction of his life. Tar's stories poignantly capture both the fun and the tragic moments in an often emotionally filled home environment in Detroit, including a father/son relationship that will strike a deeply felt and familiar chord with many. Summoning the courage to question 'the way we've always done things' separated him from the crowd . A life-changing decision after high school, a shock to his family, was a key turning point to erasing self-doubt and demonstrating a willingness to go beyond his comfort zone. Then a transformative experience in a college English class, taught by a well-know author, gave him the spark and confidence to move his journey forward. Reaching for Fireflies is a metaphor for his resilience in the pursuit of luminous opportunities.