Francie
by Karen English
Published by square Fish: Henry Holt and Company
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Reviewed by Mayra Calvani
The story takes place in rural Alabama, where Francie, our 12-year-old protagonist, lives with her mother and little brother. Francie’s father, who left them about a year ago, is in Chicago trying to ‘make it.’ Francie lives in expectation of the day she will receive ‘the letter’ from him, asking his family to join him. By this time Francie has grown skeptical of his past empty promises. One day, a new boy comes to school. He doesn’t know how to read and Francie is assigned the job of teaching him. At first she seems daunted by the prospect, but soon changes her mind as she sees the boy is smart and eager to learn. Then one day he’s unjustly accused of a crime. In order to help him, Francie risks everything, including her own family.
I had trouble connecting to this book. Nothing happens until around page 40, when the new boy joins Francie’s class and she is asked to teach him to read. I had to force myself to keep reading, waiting for something to happen. Francie’s voice is sweet but not particularly forceful or insightful enough to sustain those first several chapters without action. The story picks up in the middle but slows down and disappoints at the end. The climax somehow happens too soon, turning the event into an anticlimactic episode.
One gets the feeling that the author didn’t do an outline for this story and that the events evolved as the author wrote them, giving the impression of an unbalanced structure. The ending is ambivalent. It boils down to the plot not being compelling enough, the characters not engaging enough.
Technically speaking, the writing is good, but although the story has a strong premise, I feel the execution didn’t live up to its full potential. Still, this is a book that deals with important issues of prejudice and racism and for this reason has good value for classroom reading and group discussion. But read only for entertainment? I doubt the general middle reader will get past those first few chapters.
Armchair Interviews says: Agrees.