Now Is Not the Time to Panic

Frankie could be any disaffected 16 year old girl who doesn't fit in with her classmates in her small Tennessee hometown. But Frankie has a secret she can never tell anyone, even the loving husband she will meet decades later: she was responsible for the Coalfield Panic of 1996. In that fateful year, Frankie meets Zeke at the town pool, and they quickly bond over a shared love of art (Frankie: writing and Zeke: drawing). Zeke is only in Coalfield for the summer, staying with his grandmother after his mother discovered proof of his father's numerous affairs. But Frankie is determined to make it a unique, unforgettable summer that she will look back at nostalgically, perhaps even as the time she met the man she would marry (but not before she is in her 50s and has many other adventures). In trying to determine what specific art statement the two should make, Frankie's writer brain supplies her with the perfect words: The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us. Zeke contributes some artwork and the piece de resistance is several spots of blood from the teens' fingers. Frankie recalls that there is a broken Xerox machine in the garage, stolen by her brothers but abandoned once they broke it. Once it is easily repaired, Frankie and Zeke make hundreds of copies of the poster and drive around town, stapling them to telephone poles, taping them to windows, and leaving them in random mailboxes. Their goal is for the posters to be seen and remembered, but their source to remain mysteriously unknown.At first, the posters accomplish their goal: they get people talking. Then things start getting weird. A lady from Zeke's grandmother's church believes the Devil is behind the posters. Two teenagers claim that they were kidnapped by tattooed men in a black van who called themselves The Fugitives, and then dropped them at an abandoned house that was covered in the posters. Frankie and Zeke are bemused by these overreactions, but secretly Frankie is thrilled that something she created is having such a major impact. It's still going to be the best summer ever. But then the situation spirals out of control. Frankie and Zeke's relationship, which remains undefined but sometimes involves kissing, takes a dangerous turn. Amidst the hysteria about the poster phenomenon, which by now is attracting tourists, it's probably inevitable that someone becomes a casualty. Now is Not the Time to Panic is an intensely personal book for Kevin Wilson, who notes that the phrase Frankie dreams up was actually coined by a friend of his, and that it somehow comforted Wilson as he went through college lonely and isolated. I'm impressed by how well he writes from the POV of a 16 year old girl who is bursting with thoughts and emotions that she doesn't fully understand. The relationship between Frankie and Zeke is complicated and unpredictable, and the questions raised by the book about art are not easily answered. Who owns a piece of art? Who is responsible for the actions it inspires? How many times can it be mimicked by others until it is no longer the responsibility of its creator? The story is bookended by chapters that take place in the present time, when reporter Mazzy Brower contacts Frankie, now living in Kentucky. Mazzy has traced the posters back to Frankie, and wants to interview her before she publishes an article about the infamous Panic. This sends Frankie on one last urgent trip back to Tennessee to finally confront and confess, but she is surprised by the responses she receives.As with Wilson's most recent book, [b:Nothing to See Here 42519313 Nothing to See Here Kevin Wilson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1559591792l/42519313.SY75.jpg 66239115], the ending is a little abrupt, but this time it feels complete. Kevin Wilson's style is a little odd, occasionally funny, somewhat dreamlike, and compassionate to outsiders like Frankie. I hope they don't make a movie based on this book because it will probably be presented like a typical teenager coming of age story, when it is much more than that. ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for objective review.