Frannie and Tru

Gr 8 Up—Frannie, 15, is excited that her older cousin Truman is coming to stay with her family for the summer. She hasn't seen him in a while, but she imagines all the things they'll do, things she'll say, and how amazing her once boring summer will be. Unfortunately, nothing works out quite the way she hoped; Tru doesn't seem to care about her or her older twin brothers. Frannie persists, and Tru starts to include her in some of his outings, and eventually she learns his secret. She is happy to get out and do something since she'll be starting at a more diverse public magnet school in the fall and worries that she won't fit in. The protagonist is self-absorbed, and as the summer progresses, her perceptions of her family and friends change. Frannie is the only fully fleshed-out character, but as she grows more aware of the world around her, the other characters become more well-rounded. Mentions of underage drinking, smoking, and marijuana use are peppered throughout and are organic to the tale. The story's pace slowly picks up about one-third of the way through the book and remains steady.