Rating: 4 stars
Cover Rating: 5 stars (I like the simplicity of this cover)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: September 28, 2010
Publisher: Candlewick
Page Count: 245 p.
Frankie Parsons is a little weird. So is his mum. She hasn't left the house during most of Frankie's life. He even had to live with The Aunties for awhile. His brother and sister don't talk about it, but her fear sits like a white elephant in their flat. On top of that, Frankie is a worrier. He worries or is afraid of most things. Every night at 10 p.m. he brings these worries down the hall into his mum's bedroom where she does her best to comfort him. When a new girl named Sydney, comes in larger than life and armed with questions of her own. Frankie starts to realize life can be different if you just ask those harder questions.
This novel reminded me a lot of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Frankie is not autistic, and this novel takes place in New Zealand, but the overall tone of the novel was very similar. I loved being inside Frankie's troubling head. I loved his friend Gigs and the new girl Sydney. They were all so full of life and childhood. This novel address the very real issue of a mother who is too paralyzed by fear to be able to leave her house. Over time she has become well enough to run a successful bakery business from her house. This also talks in depth about how Frankie is afraid to turn out like his mum, since he has a set of his own debilitating fears. This book was a fantastic read that touched on so many things without feeling overly heavy. There was friendship and first crushes and school and fears and life all packed into this great novel. It was a truly fascinating read. I suggest you put this in your TBR pile and get to it sooner rather than later.
First Line:
"Tuesday the fourteenth of February began badly for Frankie Parsons."
Favorite Line:
"There was nothing more revolting in Frankie's view than freestyling your way, innocent and blissful, into the path of a used Band-Aid."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Hello readers! I love comments, so please feel free to leave them. I do comment back on every comment I get, though it may take me a couple of days. Thanks for stopping by!