Now Is Not The Time To Panic by Kevin Wilson
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.
Oh my , was this book FILLED with nostalgia something FIERCE for me, yall.
The story focuses on two 16 year olds in the summer of 1996, which is EXACTLY how old I was in that year. It’s about art, creativity, friendship, first kisses, first crushes, and trying to figure out all the BS that is thrown at you.
It is about the power of expression, the pull of connection, and the force of figuring out who you are and want to be.
All the feelings and experiences I had during that age just came FLOODING back as I listened to this book. The 90s references to music and current events was a TRIP.
It made me remember that time in my life when the world is so big yet at the same time so small….when everything seems so available to you yet at the same time completely unreachable…when all around you things are stupid yet wonderful, annoying yet amazing and weird yet lovely.
Nothing makes sense and everything makes sense simultaneously.
The author really put into words so much of what a small town teenage kid feels–you feel weird, unsettled, on fire, desperate to express your true self yet at the same time wanting to completely hide it away.
(as I write this, I am super weirded out that my oldest kiddo is 16 now and is probably feeling all these feels too 😨)
This story is also about really difficult things that happen that teenagers just can not grasp, understand or handle….and how quickly things can get out of hand even when they start off small and seemingly innocent.
How as a teenager you want to distance yourself from the grown ups in your life–especially when they cause you hurt and confusion–but also still need them every now and then to help you figure things out.
I thought the author wrote in SUCH a relatable and real way…I swear I could envision me and one of my friends back in the day creating a poster, hopping in my silver Dodge Spirit and hanging them up all over our suburban town just like Frankie & Zeke do.
I love all the discussion on the layers of what art does…what it is…what it can do…who it is for…why it exists…and how much it can express, encourage or change in a mind, a heart, and even a community.
Totes loved this one. Wasn’t a light book or a heavy book, but landed somewhere right in the middle.
The author has a note at the end that explains why he wrote the book and why the poster tagline is heavy with meaning for him. 💓 Listening to that really sealed the deal on my enjoyment of this one and made me a fan of Kevin Wilson.