The 10 PM Question

This is a book about Frankie Parsons, a young boy with anxiety. Every night, at 10PM, he hops into bed with his Ma, to ask one of his questions about life, or his family, or himself. Frankie lives with his mother, his father (the oddly named "Uncle George"), his older grumpier sister Gordana; the house is also frequently visited by the Aunties (Ma's three gloriously fat and highly entertaining aunts) and Frankie's older brother, Louie. The book takes place every second Tuesday, the day the Aunties come over for dinner and cards, and over these Tuesdays we also meet Frankie's best friend and cricket fanatic, Gigs, and the new girl at school, Sydney.

It's a large cast, but none of the characters were one-dimensional. These are a fabulous show more bunch of people, that you would want to have as your own family and friends, and I really enjoyed spending time with them. And especially with Frankie, Gigs and Sydney, who are very clever and inventive. I particularly liked Gigs' "Second Left Army", made up of Fimo models of Second Lieutenants from armies around the world, and all called Fox. There's Second Lieutenant Fox (British), Sottotenete Fox (Italian), Fanrik Fox (Finnish), etc.

And mention must also be made of their teacher, the very amusing Mr A, who, as part of an effort to improve their vocabulary, makes them all find two new words in the dictionary every morning and write our their definitions. I'm trying to work out how to drop "panspermia" into everyday conversation right now.

Given the young age of the main characters, this is, of course, a young adult novel. I was slightly dubious about reading a young adult novel that was neither fantasy (a boy and his dragon) or dystopia (a boy and his wasteland), but I'm very glad I did, it was immensely entertaining, and even drew a tear or two at the end at this tale of such a talented, yet confused, boy.

And de Goldi does not talk down to her audience, the book is beautifully written. Neither does she make the mistake of having the story written in first person, with children using language beyond them. Make no mistake, Frankie (and Gigs, and Sydney) are not dumb, but they're not clever enough to write like this either.

An excellent coming-of-age novel, with a wonderful cast of characters. Worth checking out. show less

Intense. Lovely. Cathartic, for me, because I do tend to be fretful, irritable, and depressed, and to want to be a hermit Even though the main character is going on 13, it's not a book for kids. Teens should read it, yes. Parents, yes. Aunties, yes. Professors, yes. Counselors & teachers & bus drivers, too....

I need to reread [b:Stargirl|22232|Stargirl (Stargirl, #1)|Jerry Spinelli|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335947642s/22232.jpg|963221]. For some reason the first half of this book reminded me of that, but I'm not sure why, beyond the fact that it's told from a boy's perspective about how a girl with a dynamic personality affects his worldview. After that, I got too absorbed to think about other books or people or anything.

Anyway, show more one thing you might want to know, going in, besides the fact that it's set in New Zealand (which I did not remember when I got around to reading it), is that tense & chronology are deliberately confused. Do pay attention to the dates at the head of each chapter. The intervening span of time is revealed to us as Frankie reflects upon what happened that we didn't witness.

There's actually a lot that we don't actually witness. De Goldi does a good job of making us feel empathy with Frankie by focusing on his internal, filtered perception of the world. Frankie's not exactly an unreliable narrator, but we do have to be alert to his confusions. And we don't get backstory in clean flashbacks, either. Some stuff we don't figure out until the end, some stuff we never do.

So, I strongly advise you to read carefully. There are lots of clues, metaphors, symbols, foreshadowing... nothing too difficult or *L*iterary, but enough that you can't read this like a page-turning adventure.

I will look for more by this creative & talented author.

But why is the cat named Fat Controller?? show less

I love love loved this book. Frankie is such an awesome narrator. He is young, which usually loses my interest, but incredibly clever and real. Being a worrier myself, I totally found myself rooting for him and hoping he would find a way to deal. The lists that he makes to calm himself down are something I can relate to as well. My lists aren't mental like his, but I do compulsively keep track of certain things (mostly to do with reading). I also sometimes write lists just for the sheer pleasure and soothingness of creating them.

Frankie is not the only character who is well-drawn. The whole cast feels completely real and full of life, from the big fat aunts to the dad called Uncle George by everyone (even though he's not an uncle) to show more the family cat (The Fat Controller) to the teacher at Frankie's school. Everyone has there own crazy quirks and I could connect with them all.

Part of the reason the story is so successful, despite having a rather contemplative plot, is the focus on the relationships between family and friends. De Goldi has captured how a family can be full of love and still be dysfunctional. While the story does have a bit of an overarching plot, it's not really what you think it is at the beginning and the resolution isn't momentous. This is a story of Frankie's personal journey to learn to understand himself and his family.

Everyone should read this. It is absolutely delightful! Fans of A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time should definitely check this out. show less

Oh this is gorgeous! Finely observed, laugh out loud funny, and very kiwi while being universal in it's detail. It's the best portrayal of panic attacks and their impact I've ever read because the understanding and empathy for the characters is right there, but not overwhelmingly told. It's delicate and real - and also very helpful.This keeps being shelved as YA fiction, but I would really question that, although it certainly doesn't seem to be keeping people from reading it thank goodness.

Oh this is gorgeous! Finely observed, laugh out loud funny, and very kiwi while being universal in it's detail. It's the best portrayal of panic attacks and their impact I've ever read because the understanding and empathy for the characters is right there, but not overwhelmingly told. It's delicate and real - and also very helpful.This keeps being shelved as YA fiction, but I would really question that, although it certainly doesn't seem to be keeping people from reading it thank goodness.

The book cover said, "A novel which defies all age categories".

I disagree entirely .

The main characters are all teenagers and the adults are larger than life and not credible. So that makes it a teen novel in my book.I thought the mother, who was a central figure, was just not credible given the role she has in the book. It was all just so bloody perfect how all the flaws never really got in the way.

How his father wandered around "without his underpants" in front of his teenage daughter, made to sound funny but can you imagine that really being funny? Having raised one daughter I can't. And don't get me started on the Aunties!

Don't get me wrong though. For a teen novel that deals with mental illness and dysfunctional parents it's show more actually pretty good and well written as long as you accept it for what it is and it isn't an adults novel. show less

Finished quickly by skipping three chapters in the middle. I found the writing very elegant and rich in structure and vocabulary. The main character, a boy of about 12, has an intense inner life that is appealing and sympathetic. For readers of the "Curious Incident of the dog in the night" this is a perfect choice. I wouldn't want to claim that Frankie has Asperger's Syndrome but his close attention to all details in his surroundings suggest it. The crux of the book is his monther's mental illness, how it affects him and how they learn to talk about it. In comparison, Frankie's school-mate Sydney has a mother with quite different coping problems that have equal or probably worse consequences for her daughter. The dynamics and constant show more re-balancing relationships between Frankie and his two class-mates is very well drawn. Along with the serious issue the story is filled with witty scenes among a full cast of quirky family members. show less