Frenchtown Summer

Picked up this book at a library sale yesterday. FRENCHTOWN SUMMER is a slim book at barely a hundred pages, and a quick read, thirty prose poems, no doubt highly autobiographical, from the prolific late Robert Cormier. Narrator young Eugene takes us through the summer he turned twelve in the largely French Catholic tenements of Monument, Massachusetts. (Think Leominster's French-Canadian quarter where Cormier grew up in the twenties and thirties.) Many of the pieces center on the mystery that is Eugene's taciturn father, often out of work, laid off from the comb factory, brooding in the kitchen, a Chesterfield smoldering in an ashtray. Or the unsolved crime of a young girl slain before Eugene was born, a striped tie wound round her show more throat. He wonders about his bachelor uncle, who never wore a tie, yet a box of tie tacks are found in his room upon his death. He worries about his unconfessed sin, "those moist moments in my bed at night," and whether he is doomed "forever to the fires of hell." There is the magical and sharp vision of his first pair of glasses. Or there is the red airplane glimpsed in a neighborhood back yard, and then it disappears.

There is much to think about here, in these pieces often dark and frightening. It is a concise meditation on the coming-of-age theme. FRENCHTOWN SUMMER was one of Cormier's last books, published in 1999. He died the following year, at 75. Cormier wrote nearly twenty books for young adults. His best known book was THE CHOCOLATE WAR, often a cause for censorship and contention in school and community libraries. It has never been out of print in the past thirty-plus years, however, which tells you something. I've only read one other Cormier book, OTHER BELLS FOR US TO RING, another coming-of-age tale set in the WWII era, and excellent. So is this one. Very highly recommended.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

Written in prose, this narrative is unlike some of Cormier’s other works in that it has a sweet innocence to it. The prose follows 12 year old Eugene through one summer in the tenements of Frenchtown. Each poem shares a story of love, life and death from Eugene’s perspective. Eugene’s father works in a factory, his uncle is a gambler, his grandfather may have prayed enough that his other uncle was injured to avoid the draft. Eugene tells us all their stories in short, beautiful prose that provides imagery of joy in a world full of poverty, sickness and grief. . Eugene is an endearing character who is just starting to understand how fleeting life can be which is depicted in the poem of an infant cousin who died, an uncle who show more commits suicide and a young girl who is murdered. Despite this overarching theme, the narrative reads as wistfully hopeful.
Students in middle school and up will find this to be engaging and quick to read show less

This book is now very near and dear to me. I should start by explaining why I choose to read Frenchtown Summer. In November, I went to a presentation by the Worcester Review, at the town library. The Worcester review had produced a publication about Robert Cormier and his works, called The Man Next Door. Robert Cormier was from my home town "Monument" and his works all include the town of "Monument." When I was growing up, every student of "Monument" public schools was required to read a book by Robert Cormier, although there was much controversy about his books through out the country. Many parents believe his subject matter is too dark and deep for children of the Young Adult age group, I disagree. During the presentation, a number of show more participants named Frenchtown Summer as their favorite book by Mr. Cormier. I personally had only read We All Fall Down and didn't even remember what it was about or if I had enjoyed it.
Frenchtown Summer is all about the streets I grew up on. The street Eugene lives on is where my best friend had her first apartment. I walked my dog down Pee Alley last week and the boys who played there are now the men who have breakfast together every morning at Friendly's. Not only is this a nostalgic book for me, it introduces many topics pre-teens struggle with, it is a quick book to read and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. show less

The poetry of Frenchtown Summer describes Eugene’s experiences from one summer of his childhood in Frenchtown. On the cusp of adolescence, Eugene experiences a crush on a nun, is saddened by the death of a uncle, and finds a way to finally bond with his distant father.

Frenchtown Summer was published in 1999 by Laurel-Leaf Books, it is a recent addition to the long line of challenging books Robert Cormier has presented to the public over the recent decades. Plot and intense conflict take a back seat to style and the subtle flow of Cormier’s memoir-like accounts of Eugene’s experiences. Cormier’s free verse poetry, while not perfect in its tightness or few scattered images, is still wonderful and enjoyable because of its emotion show more and humor. The relationships among the many, almost too many, characters are believable and any reader will be excited for Eugene when his father finally allows a unique connection to develop between them. A fast read, Frenchtown Summer will help readers new or fearful to poetry to open up to this form of writing. show less

Frenchtown Summer was a fantasic book, the book begun as he went to go get a haircut at the barber, he talks about how he hears the adults drinking a cup of joe and talking about the news. He also has friends in frenchtown that swim in the river after the workers from the comb shops dump in red, purple or green dyes. He lived on the third floor of a piazza, from there he could see every part of frenchtown. He would never walk by the cemetery because he heard that before he was born someone was murdered right in the cemetery. As his Frenchtown summer was nearing an end, He and everyone else in frenchtown saw an airplane land in the back of somebodys backyard... the rest of his summer was a fun-filled action packed. So go pick up show more Frenchtown summer at your local bookstore!! show less

A series of vignettes in free verse in which the writer reminisces about his life as a twelve-year-old boy living in a small town during the hot summer of 1938.

Frenchtown Summer by Robert Cormier (2001)