• 5 Star Reads
  • Audiobooks
  • Books on Screen
  • Children’s Books
  • Christian
  • Fiction
  • Giveaways

5 Minutes For Books

  • Home
  • About
    • Who Are We? Reviewer Bios
    • 5 Star Reads
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
    • About Us
  • Join In
    • 5 Minutes for Books Bookclub
    • Children’s Classics
    • Kids’ Picks
    • What’s on Your Nightstand
  • Link To Us
  • Contact
    • Advertise

Be Frank With Me

February 12, 2016 by Dawn

A quirky 9 year old boy and his new caretaker help each other see the world a little differently.

5M4B disclosure

There is no shortage of quirky child characters in literature, but oftentimes those depictions lean toward the sugary-sweet, isn’t-he-adorable side. In Julia Claiborne Johnson’s Be Frank With Me, the debut novelist balances the sweet with the sour in her depiction of young Frank, a boy who in most other settings would be wearing a label to explain his behaviors, anxieties, and impulses. Instead, Frank is simply presented as Frank, and the protagonist Alice must learn how to live in his world.

Alice has been hired as an assistant of sorts to the author M.M. (Mimi) Banning, a fictional version of the way some might have imagined Harper Lee. After writing a novel at a young age, Mimi disappeared from the public eye. At the novel’s opening, she is on the verge of losing everything she owns due to a Bernie Madoff-like scam, and she is convinced by her longtime publisher friend to pen a new novel, a virtual guarantee at recouping her losses.

But Mimi only lurks at the edges of this story, even though her presence is often felt, most often ominously by Alice, and wistfully by Frank. It is Frank, however, who is the star of this narrative. Frank, Mimi’s nine-year-old son who doesn’t seem to fit any of the typical expectations at the mention of a nine-year-old boy.

Frank enjoys dressing in morning suits, top hats, fez hats, monocles, cufflinks, and would rather die than have to wear something so primitive as a t-shirt. Alice’s main task in ‘assisting’ Mimi is to keep Frank occupied for the months that it takes for the novel to be completed. Alice arrives in the summer, and while that requires her to spend entire days with Frank, which is challenging as she slowly learns the ins and outs of what is acceptable to Frank, the biggest challenges lay ahead of her when it is time for Frank to return to school. Because of his various executive functioning challenges, Frank has difficulty with socialization, reading and interpreting others’ emotions, and functioning in an environment in which he is not in full control. Add to that a remarkable genius intelligence and a penchant for sharing the countless facts on all sorts of subjects at any time, and the result is a very difficult experience in a public school environment.

How Alice and Frank come to develop a relationship is a testament to both their strengths and skills with perseverance, and it is touching to watch blossom. Frank is a richly developed character who is lovable and terse, considerate and selfish, with his own way of perceiving the world around him, and Alice is a young adult who both questions her own previous notions about herself and gains confidence as she learns from Frank’s perspective. I adored this story for its characters and its earnest storytelling, and I love that the title uses a well-known phrase that can actually be interpreted literally by readers. In this smashing debut, readers are invited to be Frank for a little while and look at the world through his eyes.

Filed Under: Dawn, Fiction

« Girl Through Glass
Mermaid Moon »

Comments

  1. Carolyn says

    February 12, 2016 at 10:16 am

    Thanks for the heads up! I can’t wait to read this book!

    • Dawn says

      February 12, 2016 at 1:16 pm

      I do hope you enjoy it, Carolyn. I really couldn’t put it down!

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Welcome to 5 Minutes for Books. We are a team blog dedicated to sharing reviews and information about children's lit, fiction, memoir, and more. Read More…

Reviews

5 Minutes for Books

Jennifer Donovan
Managing Editor

MEET OUR TEAM



Connect With Us


Pinterest

Community

Cybils Logo Draft 3

Disclosure:

Find out about our relationships with publishers and affiliate networks in our full disclosure statement.

Recent Posts

  • Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun
  • The Greenleaf Murders
  • Chaos at Carnegie Hall
  • The Confessions of Matthew Strong
  • Bad Day Breaking

Categories

Privacy Policy    |     Disclosure Policy
Terms & Conditions
© 5 Minutes for Mom

Let’s Socialize

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Pinterest is Our FAVORITE!

Find and Follow Us at
pinterest.com/5min4books

Copyright © 2023 · Tasteful theme by Restored 316