Frankie & Bug
Gayle Forman’s middle-grade debut!
It’s summer, and all ten-year-old Bug wants to do is go to the beach with her older brother and hang out with the locals—just like they have for the last two years. But now Danny wants his space, and Bug is stuck hanging out with their neighbor Phillip’s nephew Frankie, who has come for a visit. After a bumpy start, Frankie and Bug join forces to find the Midnight Marauder—a criminal on the loose in the L.A. area. It makes for a fun summer until but violence strikes close to home after Uncle Phillip is attacked. As Frankie and Bug turn their attention to solving this mystery, what they learn about themselves is far more important—family can be whatever you make it, love is stronger than blood, and it’s up to all of us to hurry toward justice.
Praise for Frankie & Bug
“I knew I would like Frankie & Bug from the moment I started reading it. What I didn’t know is how much I would end up loving it. This joyful, occasionally heartbreaking, deeply moving thrill ride through the 80s has it all: a mystery to solve, boy bands, and the tender surprise of new friendships. I didn’t want it to end.”
“A beach read for the middle grade set, this wonderful, bighearted book has everything a bored eleven-year-old could ask for: from ice cream and roller skating to tabloid murders and family secrets. After you spend the summer with Frankie and Bug and their colorful co-stars, you’ll want to go back to Venice Beach every year. Gayle Forman, please make me another!”
“A beautiful and tender story about the discovery of a powerful friendship, starring two fantastic kids and one extraordinary family. ”
“Frankie & Bug is uplifting, bittersweet, and magnificently loud in the heart and soul.”
“This book is for those striving to be who they are, not what others see. And for those standing in alliance beside them. Really, isn’t that everyone?”