MARCH 2016 - AudioFile
Be prepared to put your life on hold once you start this audiobook about the relationships among a reclusive author, Mimi; her 9-year-old son, Frank; and her newly hired personal assistant, Alice. The story revolves around young Frank, who has Asperger’s. His personal quirks both delight and frustrate Alice, who becomes the boy's principal companion while Mimi writes her new novel. Gilbert nails the rhythm of Frank's unique speech pattern while instilling his dialogue with charm and innocence. She transitions so seamlessly between Alice and Frank that listeners may forget there’s only one narrator. Don't miss this outstanding production. C.B.L. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2017 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
Readers will find themselves captivated.” — People
“Delightful. You will laugh out loud.” — Slate
“Johnson’s magnificently poignant, funny, and wholly original debut goes beyond page-turner status. Readers will race to the next sentence. And the next. Her charming, flawed, quietly courageous characters, each wonderfully different, demand a second reading while we impatiently await the author’s second work.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“A lot of fun to be had along the way. Sit back…and enjoy the show.” — New York Times Book Review
“Julia Claiborne Johnson ably conjures a quirky cast and a privileged California world. BE FRANK WITH ME is about being an outsider and the ways in which differences help others see the world in a new way. Like Frank, this offbeat story has a big heart.” — BookPage
“Johnson’s spare, wry, Salingeresque style evokes those great oddball novels of the past and provides a charming take on the parent-of-challenged-child theme.” — Daily Mail (London)
“Frank Banning may be the most endearing scene-stealer you’ll ever meet in the pages of a book...Johnson proves it’s possible to write a comic novel that, at times, is heartbreaking.” — Richmond Times-Dispatch
“This book has stayed with me since I turned the last page. Frank is one of the most memorable children in contemporary fiction.” — Irish Times
“Simply delightful...A warm and friendly book, with characters you want to get to know.” — Sunday Times (London)
“Hilarious, poignant and full of unexpected gems, BE FRANK WITH ME illuminates the strange ways literature can parallel life, and introduces readers to one of the most charming, lovable and maddening children in fiction.” — Huffington Post
“Witty dialogue, irresistible characters, and a touch of mystery make this sweet debut about a quirky Hollywood family an enjoyable page-turner.” — Booklist
“The curious incident of where’d you go, Salinger.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Julia Claiborne Johnson has struck gold in creating Frank Banning — a one-of-a-kind exasperating, witty and endearing nine-year-old genius who functions as the beating heart of this marvelous book.” — Julie Schumacher, author of Dear Committee Members
“Witty, but never cutesy. Deeply felt, but never sentimental. Peopled with deeply flawed, fully realized characters I cared about... I loved every minute I spent in Julia Claiborne Johnson’s glass house with her cast of dedicated stone-throwers. This one is special—don’t miss it.” — Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times-bestselling author of The Opposite of Everyone
“There’s so much to love about this novel: the hilarious one-liners, the unforgettable characters, the unexpected moments of tenderness and all the funny, sad, poignant twists and turns this story takes. I lost myself in these pages and you will too.” — John Searles, nationally-bestselling author of Help for the Haunted
“Julia Claiborne Johnson has written an effervescent gem of a novel, expertly balancing on a literary tightrope between lighthearted and heartbreaking. BE FRANK WITH ME is peopled by characters at once utterly unique, and entirely authentic. I may re-read this book just to spend more time with Frank.” — Laura Nicole Diamond, author of Shelter Us: a novel
Beautifully written, brimming with insight, mystery, and benevolent wit, Julia Johnson had me gripped from the first chapter to the final page of BE FRANK WITH ME.” — Julia Sweeney, author, actress, comedienne
“BE FRANK WITH ME is complex, nuanced, detailed and profound. In other words, funny, in the best, most resonant way. Read it with both eyes because it will delight both the thinky and the feely parts of your brain.” — Dave Foley, comedian and technically, an actor
“What a charmer this book is! From the very first page, I fell hard for Frank, an adorable oddball with an amazing brain, a wardrobe to die for, and a lonely fragility that pierced my heart again and again.” — Marisa de los Santos, New York Times-bestselling author of Love Walked In and The Precious One
Irish Times
This book has stayed with me since I turned the last page. Frank is one of the most memorable children in contemporary fiction.
People
Readers will find themselves captivated.
Sunday Times (London)
Simply delightful...A warm and friendly book, with characters you want to get to know.
BookPage
Julia Claiborne Johnson ably conjures a quirky cast and a privileged California world. BE FRANK WITH ME is about being an outsider and the ways in which differences help others see the world in a new way. Like Frank, this offbeat story has a big heart.
New York Times Book Review
A lot of fun to be had along the way. Sit back…and enjoy the show.
Daily Mail (London)
Johnson’s spare, wry, Salingeresque style evokes those great oddball novels of the past and provides a charming take on the parent-of-challenged-child theme.
Slate
Delightful. You will laugh out loud.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Frank Banning may be the most endearing scene-stealer you’ll ever meet in the pages of a book...Johnson proves it’s possible to write a comic novel that, at times, is heartbreaking.
Huffington Post
Hilarious, poignant and full of unexpected gems, BE FRANK WITH ME illuminates the strange ways literature can parallel life, and introduces readers to one of the most charming, lovable and maddening children in fiction.
Joshilyn Jackson
Witty, but never cutesy. Deeply felt, but never sentimental. Peopled with deeply flawed, fully realized characters I cared about... I loved every minute I spent in Julia Claiborne Johnson’s glass house with her cast of dedicated stone-throwers. This one is special—-don’t miss it.
John Searles
There’s so much to love about this novel: the hilarious one-liners, the unforgettable characters, the unexpected moments of tenderness and all the funny, sad, poignant twists and turns this story takes. I lost myself in these pages and you will too.
Julia Sweeney
Beautifully written, brimming with insight, mystery, and benevolent wit, Julia Johnson had me gripped from the first chapter to the final page of BE FRANK WITH ME.
Marisa de los Santos
What a charmer this book is! From the very first page, I fell hard for Frank, an adorable oddball with an amazing brain, a wardrobe to die for, and a lonely fragility that pierced my heart again and again.
Julie Schumacher
Julia Claiborne Johnson has struck gold in creating Frank Banning — a one-of-a-kind exasperating, witty and endearing nine-year-old genius who functions as the beating heart of this marvelous book.
Booklist
Witty dialogue, irresistible characters, and a touch of mystery make this sweet debut about a quirky Hollywood family an enjoyable page-turner.
Dave Foley
BE FRANK WITH ME is complex, nuanced, detailed and profound. In other words, funny, in the best, most resonant way. Read it with both eyes because it will delight both the thinky and the feely parts of your brain.
Laura Nicole Diamond
Julia Claiborne Johnson has written an effervescent gem of a novel, expertly balancing on a literary tightrope between lighthearted and heartbreaking. BE FRANK WITH ME is peopled by characters at once utterly unique, and entirely authentic. I may re-read this book just to spend more time with Frank.
Booklist
Witty dialogue, irresistible characters, and a touch of mystery make this sweet debut about a quirky Hollywood family an enjoyable page-turner.
Slate
Delightful. You will laugh out loud.
Library Journal
★ 12/01/2015
M.M. Banning, a reclusive one-mega-hit novelist now in her 50s and living in Bel Air, CA, with her nine-year-old-son, Frank, is in trouble. Brought to the brink of bankruptcy by a Madoff-like investment adviser, Banning is up against a deadline to finish her long-awaited second novel (she was 19 when she was skyrocketed to fame by the success of her first book). Banning needs an assistant to manage both her household and Frank, an eccentric genius who is a walking sartorial delight (inspired mostly by 1930s movies) as well as a whirling dervish with perilous tendencies. Banning's New York publisher sends his assistant Alice Whitley to the rescue. Alice's gifts for managing Banning's acerbically rigid demands and Frank's enormous behavioral challenges are beautifully inspired by her lovely heart. VERDICT Johnson's magnificently poignant, funny, and wholly original debut goes beyond page-turner status. Readers will race to the next sentence. And the next. Her charming, flawed, quietly courageous characters, each wonderfully different, demand a second reading while we impatiently await the author's second work. [See Prepub Alert, 8/17/15.]—Beth Andersen, formerly with Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI
School Library Journal
12/01/2016
Alice, a New York publishing house assistant, arrives in Bel-Air thinking she's going to help a famous novelist with her new book. Instead, she becomes the companion to the novelist's nine-year-old son, Frank, who not only loves old movies but dresses like their stars. Clever, thoughtful, touching, and at times hilarious. (http://ow.ly/41KX305MyLb)—Sarah Flowers, formerly at Santa Clara County Public Library, CA
MARCH 2016 - AudioFile
Be prepared to put your life on hold once you start this audiobook about the relationships among a reclusive author, Mimi; her 9-year-old son, Frank; and her newly hired personal assistant, Alice. The story revolves around young Frank, who has Asperger’s. His personal quirks both delight and frustrate Alice, who becomes the boy's principal companion while Mimi writes her new novel. Gilbert nails the rhythm of Frank's unique speech pattern while instilling his dialogue with charm and innocence. She transitions so seamlessly between Alice and Frank that listeners may forget there’s only one narrator. Don't miss this outstanding production. C.B.L. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2017 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
