Call number: NZ F DEG and NZ YF DEG
Publisher: Longacre Press
Year: 2008
Reviewed by Mirla
“There was one remaining problem of course. A 1.1 meter problem with bulging eyes and rattling bangles who could be guaranteed to do what everyone else obligingly did not: ask questions.”
When Frankie Parsons befriends Sydney, the new girl at school, he finds someone who is going to push him to ask the questions he’s been too afraid to confront.
Kate De Goldi does a fantastic job of getting inside Frankie’s character - the intelligent 12 year old with a nagging voice in his head constantly telling everything to worry about. We are reminded of what it was like to fall in love for the first time and how to begin to move out of childhood and face the world. Oh - and there’s a couple of cameo appearances for those of us who grew up in Christchurch in the 70’s!
A fast easy read, but hugely satisfying for its intelligence and wit - for a wider audience than just teens.
Please note: The 10pm question is held in both the adult general fiction and the teen fiction collections.
Similar books/authors:
Clubs by Kate De Goldi and Jacqui Colley