Frankie & Bug

Juvenile fiction 

     Have you ever had a long awaited summer (or any kind of vaca) that seems to go sideways at the beginning only to be beautifully redeemed further on.  I surely did this year.  I spent four days in the hospital in May and was unable to represent my church at a Poor People's Campaign event because of the kidney stone I am still carrying around.  Then the internship I was dreading was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life.  If you've had a roller coaster summer you'll really relate to Bug, narrator of Gayle Forman's Frankie & Bug.

     Bug lives for summers with a lot of ocean beach time.  The past two she's spent under the supervision of her older brother.  But now Danny, who is now calling himself Daniel, needs space.  He's taken over the room they used to share, shunting Bug off to a tiny converted alcove.  And he wants to spend the summer with his friends without her tagging along.

     "School had yet to let out, but Bug could feel the summer slipping through her fingers like sand at the beach, which she would not be going to."

     A boy named Frankie coming to spend the summer with his uncle Phillip, Bug's upstairs neighbor, is supposed to improve her vacation.  At first he's a disappointment.  He doesn't want to swim or have sleepovers or do any of the stuff she loves.  But they're both fascinated by a local killer dubbed the Midnight Marauder so they team up to catch him...

     ...until a crime closer to home--Phillip being beaten badly enough to end up in a hospital--brings some inconvenient truths and secrets to light and cements Bug and Frankie's friendship to the point she doesn't want him to leave.

     This highly engaging narrative takes younger readers back to a time, the late 80s, when discovery of the AIDS virus had ramped up homophobia, racism was much more unquestioned, and transgender was not a part of most people's vocabularies.

     Reading this fine book is a lot like wading into Bug's beloved ocean.  At first the wavelets tickle your toes.  But you go deeper and deeper until you realize your feet couldn't touch the ground if you stood up.  It's perfect for the more mature middle grade reader.

On a purrrsonal note, my own life changing epiphany happened on the Upward Bound summer program night of the author's visit.  The watch groups had just ended.  The students were stretching and chatting with friends before going back to the dorm.  I'd thought nothing could beat going on for a PhD after I get my masters.  They made me realize I'd much rather spend the rest of my life helping talented and motivated younger people follow their dreams while realizing that at each step of the way they are enough. (Jules)

I think it's a great idea. (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to this summer's amazing Upward Bound students.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

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