Frannie and Tru
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
“Absorbing, electrifying, and achingly relatable. Frannie and Tru is a book with a pulse.” —Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Perfect for fans of Prep and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Frannie and Tru is a dazzling YA debut about a transformative summer in the life of a girl whose idol is not what he seems.
Frannie has always idolized her cousin Tru. At seventeen, Tru is charismatic, rich, charming—everything fifteen-year-old Frannie wants to be, and everything she’s not. So when Frannie overhears her parents saying that after a bad coming-out experience Tru will be staying with them in Baltimore for the summer, Frannie is excited and desperate to impress him. But as Frannie gets swept up in Tru’s worldly way of life, she starts to worry that it may all be a mask Tru wears to hide a dark secret. And if Tru isn’t the person Frannie thought he was, what does that mean for the new life she has built with him?
Confronting issues of race, class, and sexuality, Karen Hattrup weaves a powerful coming-of-age story that’s at once timeless and immediate, sharply observed, and recognizable to anyone who has ever loved the idea of a person more than the reality.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Debut author Hattrup delves into several hot-button issues with the story of Frannie, a 15-year-old white former Catholic school student who fears her upcoming enrollment in a predominantly black magnet school in Baltimore. With her father working odd jobs and her mother pulling double shifts, Frannie is lonely, having pushed away her Catholic school friends and finding nothing in common with her older brothers. When her 17-year-old gay cousin, Tru, visits for the summer, Frannie is determined to spend time with him, despite his caustic demeanor. Through Tru, Frannie meets cousins Sparrow and Devon Jones, as well as Devon's band, making friends across racial and economic boundaries. Just when Frannie thinks she has matured and is ready for her new school, she learns that her understanding of race is skewed, and her belief that her homophobic aunt and uncle are the reason for Tru's visit is upended. Though the minutia of Frannie's daily life encumbers the novel's otherwise brisk pacing, Hattrup's confrontation with white privilege and Frannie's misguided assumptions surrounding social class and sexual orientation avoid easy platitudes, creating insights ripe for further exploration. Ages 14 up.
