Summary and Reviews of Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

Now Is Not the Time to Panic

A Novel

by Kevin Wilson
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (8):
  • Readers' Rating (4):
  • First Published:
  • Nov 8, 2022, 256 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Aug 2023, 256 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

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.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

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 Members Only (855 words)

(Reviewed by Erin Lyndal Martin).

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Beyond the Book



Street Artist Shepard Fairey

Print of Shepard Fairey's Andre the Giant Obey designIn 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 ...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked Now Is Not the Time to Panic, try these:

  • Beautyland jacket

    Beautyland

    by Marie-Helene Bertino

    Published 2025

    About this book

    More by this author

    A wise, tender novel about a woman who doesn't feel at home on Earth, by the acclaimed author of Parakeet.

  • Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow jacket

    Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

    by Gabrielle Zevin

    Published 2024

    About this book

    More by this author

    In this exhilarating novel by the best-selling author of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry two friends - often in love, but never lovers - come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

We have 6 read-alikes for Now Is Not the Time to Panic, but non-members are limited to two results. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
More books by Kevin Wilson
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
Broken Country (Reese's Book Club)
by Clare Leslie Hall
A love triangle reveals deadly secrets in this thriller for fans of The Paper Palace and Where the Crawdads Sing.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The Whyte Python World Tour
    by Travis Kennedy

    Rikki Thunder, drummer for '80s metal band Whyte Python, is on the verge of fame, love—and a spy mission he didn’t expect.

  • Book Jacket

    The World's Greatest Detective and Her Just Okay Assistant
    by Liza Tully

    A great detective's young assistant yearns for glory, but first they have learn to get along in this delightful feel good mystery.

  • Book Jacket

    Angelica
    by Molly Beer

    A women-centric view of revolution through the life of Angelica Schuyler Church, Alexander Hamilton's influential sister-in-law.

  • Book Jacket

    The Original
    by Nell Stevens

    In a grand English country house in 1899, an aspiring art forger must unravel whether the man claiming to be her long-lost cousin is an impostor.

Who Said...

They say that in the end truth will triumph, but it's a lie.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

E H L the B

and be entered to win..