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A Novel
by Kevin Wilson
Book Reviewed by:An exuberant, bighearted novel about two teenage misfits who spectacularly collide one fateful summer, and the art they make that changes their lives forever.
Sixteen-year-old Frankie Budge—aspiring writer, indifferent student, offbeat loner—is determined to make it through yet another summer in Coalfield, Tennessee, when she meets Zeke, a talented artist who has just moved into his grandmother's house and who is as awkward as Frankie is. Romantic and creative sparks begin to fly, and when the two jointly make an unsigned poster, shot through with an enigmatic phrase, it becomes unforgettable to anyone who sees it. The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.
The posters begin appearing everywhere, and people wonder who is behind them and start to panic. Satanists, kidnappers—the rumors won't stop, and soon the mystery has dangerous repercussions that spread far beyond the town.
Twenty years later, Frances Eleanor Budge gets a call that threatens to upend her carefully built life: a journalist named Mazzy Brower is writing a story about the Coalfield Panic of 1996. Might Frances know something about that?
A bold coming-of-age story, written with Kevin Wilson's trademark wit and blazing prose, Now Is Not the Time to Panic is a nuanced exploration of young love, identity, and the power of art. It's also about the secrets that haunt us—and, ultimately, what the truth will set free.
Mazzy Brower
I ANSWERED THE PHONE, AND THERE WAS A WOMAN'S VOICE on the other end, a voice that I didn't recognize. "Is this Frances Budge?" she asked, and I was certain it was a telemarketer, because nobody called me Frances. In the living room, my seven-year-old daughter had made her own set of drums, including a tin plate for a cymbal, so it was loud as hell in the house, with this ting-bang-ting-ting-bang rhythm she had going on. I said, "I'm sorry, but I'm not interested," and started to hang up, but the woman, understanding that I was done with her, tried her best to pull me in.
"The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers," she said, her voice rising in pitch, and I froze. I nearly dropped the phone. And together, in harmony, we both completed the phrase, "We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us."
"So you know it," the woman said.
"I've heard it before, yeah, of course," I said, already trying to run away. I could feel the world spinning around me. ...
Wilson makes the story so compelling that I risked injury as I couldn't put it down while walking around my apartment. The bond that Frankie and Zeke have, formed in creativity and secrecy and the feeling of finally being understood, is completely authentic. The most compelling present-day scenes are when Frankie tries to articulate the events of that summer to her family. Of course, she doesn't know how to explain why she still puts up posters and constantly repeats that line to herself or why she's kept this all a secret for so long. It's easy to empathize with her; we've all struggled to confess things that we can't really justify, even to our loved ones...continued
Full Review
(855 words)
(Reviewed by Erin Lyndal Martin).
In Kevin Wilson's Now Is Not the Time to Panic, the main characters decide to anonymously make a piece of art and post it publicly. This idea is part of a larger street art aesthetic that encompasses everyone from unknown graffiti artists to international superstar Banksy. One of the most famous street artists, one who got his start with a mysterious image of his own, is 52-year-old Shepard Fairey.
The Charleston, South Carolina native loved skateboard culture and punk rock as a teenager. Around age 14, he began selling skateboards and t-shirts he'd decorated. On his website, Fairey explains why stickers, in particular, were so influential to him at the time: "I found sticker sightings an encouraging sign that there were more dedicated ...
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