This is a quick read and entertaining novel with engaging writing and exceptionally compelling characters..

A slight, quirky, (is that the most overused descriptor of Kevin Wilson novels? Or is it “weird”?) and humorous novel about “one of the weirdest mysteries in American pop culture.”

In the summer of 1996, in rural Tennessee, lonely outsiders Frankie and Zeke create a poster. She writes the words: “The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are the new fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us”, he illustrates them, and they both spatter their blood on it. They make hundreds of copies and anonymously post them all over their small town of Coalfield. But over that summer, they lose control of the narrative and their poster takes on a disturbing life of its own.

There’s some interesting ideas about ownership of art and the responsibilities or lack of them that goes with it. Can you separate the art and the artist or are they intrinsically linked? Though typically the values of the artist are overlaid onto their art (J. K. Rowling!), in this case, the interpretations of the art and the actions that it catalyzes are overlaid onto the unknown artists.

The novel is a knowing and uncomfortably authentic portrayal of teenagers who don’t fit in and there is a marvelous sense of place and, particularly, time. Both Zeke and Frankie come from broken homes and they both use art to express themselves in ways that they otherwise are unable to do. Though Zeke is the initial driver behind the bill posting, once it starts becoming fraught, it is Frankie who pushes them on as, for once, she is being seen even if the observers don’t know who she is. Her mantra, which is repeated many times in the novel and many more times by the characters, is one from her creator’s life and serves the same function:

The two other KW novels I’ve read, The Family Fang and Nothing to See Here, as well as this one share a left field sensibility in which absurd happenings are just part of normal life but I felt this novel with its mantra from KW’s own life felt more personal and was perhaps just a tad less successful for me because of that.

Thanks to Ecco and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Thanks to Ecco and NetGalley for the eARC.

Sixteen-year-old Frankie meets newcomer Zeke at the community pool at the beginning of summer. Frankie and Zeke become fast friends by sharing their own heartaches - divorced parents and all the messy things that come with separations, new families, and divorces. Frankie and Zeke spend their time together writing and drawing. One day the two create a poster by combining their talents. They then print hundreds of copies and begin hanging them everywhere in town. The response is something they never imagined - people guessing it's kidnappers or Satanists. Then the deaths start. Twelve years later Frankie receives a call from someone who knows the truth and knows she was responsible for the poster.

I really enjoyed this novel. The pacing was great and kept me reading. I think many people will be able to relate to teenage Frankie and Zeke. The plot was original and not overly predictable. I highly recommend it!

Frankie is 16 in a small southern town in the mid 90s, shes awkward and artistic. She meets Zeke an equally awkward and artistic teenager and they form a summer friendship and accidentally incite a panic in the small town when they make a strange poster and replicate it all through the town.
Now is not the time to panic is a lovely coming of age story.

Kevin Wilson believes that rather than the strong help the weak, it is more likely the weak help the weaker. This is a story about two misfit, friendless teens that find each other one summer. Zeke, an artist, has moved to Coalfield with his mom and is staying at his grandmother's home. Frankie, a writer, lives in Coalfield with her mother and older triplet brothers. Frankie and Zeke decide to use their artistic energy to create something together to make their mark. The creation goes awry.. Kevin Wilson has a deft touch with characters and beautifully displays their humanity, foibles and strengths. The story is touching and will tap into your highschool misfit self. This book is poignant page turner. Many thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

A wonderful novel of two unlikely people who come together through and start a movement that no one expected.

Frankie and Zeke meet during the summer when Zeke comes to stay with his grandmother. Both are bored and lonely yet they find a connection through Zeke's art and Frankie's words. Creating a poster together that remains anonymous, they begin placing it all over town. Soon, the poster takes on a life of its own with others copying it and posting it while the townspeople fear a cult has begun.

Frankie and Zeke have feelings for each other but the end of the summer has Zeke returning home. Years later, Frankie looks him up and they try to figure out just what that summer was all about.

A beautiful and moving story of love, loss, art and coming of age.

This book was super quirky and interesting! I had no idea what to expect, but it was hilarious, yet emotional.

This book is about teen outcasts, Zeke and Frankie who create a really odd piece of art. They love it so much, they make copies and hang them up everywhere. However, not everyone else loves it and soon a massive panic ensures around town..... and then nationally. This story is about friendship, finding yourself, art, and is overall just a fun read.

Kevin Wilson is making a name for himself as one of the South's top novelists. Now Is Not the Time to Panic should only burnish that reputation.

Like any great work of literature, the book works on a number of levels. First, it's a story of young-adult friendship (with a little romance) set in the summer that Frankie, a young writer with the given name, "Frances," and Zeke, who likes to draw, are 16. With a single sentence--written by Frankie, illustrated by Zeke, and even sprinkled with their blood--the pair discover a quest for the summer: they will share this sentence/artwork/capital-S Statement with the world and gauge the reactions as they come.

Younger readers will pick up on the attraction right away. Perhaps I need a better word than "attraction," because this isn't merely a tale about a summer romance. It's a tale about how ideas generate and how they leave the creators' control and go viral.

Often, as I read this, I wondered if Wilson were writing an allegory about art. (In the introduction to the novel, he describes how Frankie's one, unprecedented sentence burst into his own brain. In the two-part novel, he shows how he shaped and re-worked that sentence into the work of art it has become.)

Frankie and Zeke bring their own talents to the project. A copier stolen by Frankie's obstreperous older brothers provides the media to publish their work. They are united by the artwork--bonded, even--and desire to share what they have done.

As happens with art, they lose control of the meaning for a time. Crazy things happen as the project goes viral, and ultimately their community, Frankie and Zeke move on.

I'm not fond of epilogue endings, but I welcomed Part II, as Wilson revisited Frankie as an adult, her work of art still skittering through the cultural ether, her work as its creator exposed by an enterprising journalist. Why? Because art goes on, out of any direct control. And so do its creators.

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for this honest review.

Everything I needed and more. This title is SO important in today's world. Highly highly recommend. Will be sharing.

Now is Not the Time to Panic
by Kevin Wilson
Pub Date: Nov. 8, 02022
Ecco
256 p
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. Readers of John Green will like this book, as I did. I was very excited to receive this uncorrected proof copy of Kevin Wilson's new book.. This is the second book that I have read by Mr. Wilson, and something about his writing resonates with me. Frankie and Zeke meet one summer when they are both in need of a friend. They are both lost souls in families that are struggling with fathers that have cheated and their mothers are emotionally reeling and attempting to cope with their new lives.
I loved this book! The characters were well described and likable. This book has all the feels. If you don't like teens or their angst you probably won't like this book. I flew threw this book. I am recommending it.
4 stars

Frankie is a sixteen-year-old aspiring writer living in a small town in Tennessee. She's a quirky and a loner, growing up with three older brothers that like to cause trouble. One summer day, Frankie meets aspiring artist Zeke at the local swimming pool. Zeke is from Memphis and he and his mother have come to town for the summer after discovering that his father was cheating on his mother. Frankie and Zeke team up for the rest of the summer, and come up with an idea to put their mark on the town. Frankie creates the phrase, "The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us" and Zeke illustrates it. Then they paper the town in the poster of their artwork, which they run off on a copy machine that is in Frankie's garage. The art gains attention, and soon takes on a life of its own. Many in town are blaming the posters on a cult of some type. Frankie and Zeke lose control over their art as it grows into a viral sensation all over the state (long before the Internet!). Frankie and Zeke soon go their own ways, but keep their secret into adulthood. Frankie decides to track Zeke down to warn him that a reporter has figured it out and written a story about the origin of the poster. Frankie also confesses her involvement in the posters to her family before the article comes out.

Kevin Wilson does such a great job with this story! The characters are quirky, but real. It's an examination of small-town life, teenage angst, how art is interpreted so differently among people, mob mentalities, forgiveness, and leaving your mark on the world. I highly recommend this book. Kevin Wilson fans will not be disappointed in his latest novel. I would recommend it to book groups as well, because the discussion can go in so many directions. Check out the backstory of where this phrase originated and why the author wrote a novel centered around it. Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you are a lover of John Green books this is for you. Although not necessarily full of imagery, this book blurred the lines between my reality and the reality of the book. The whole plot of creating a mass panic from just a poster made by children was absolutely fascinating. It feels like something that could’ve happened in a preinternet world. It makes the reader feel that they can make a large impact on the world if you really want to, even if it’s not the most expected. The ending infuriated me but I also feel like it is the only way the story could’ve ended.

I was very excited to receive this uncorrected proof copy of Kevin Wilson's new book, Now is not the time to panic. This is the second book that I have read by Mr. Wilson, and something about his writing resonates with me. Frankie and Zeke meet one summer when they are both in need of a friend. They are both lost souls in families that are struggling with fathers that have cheated and their mothers are emotionally reeling and attempting to cope with their new lives. Frankie has lived in this small Tennessee town all her life, and Zeke and his mother have just moved in with her mother. They came from Memphis. The two connect and through her writing and his art they create a poster that will ultimately change their lives as well as the lives of many people in the town and eventually spread throughout the nation, and finally, the world. This is a wonderful coming of age book that was a quick read for me, as I was eager to see what would happen to them, but also because of the author's writing style. He has a keen understanding of these misfits and the world that they are navigating. The story is tight, and although it is far fetched, the reader can believe that this could happen. I would like to thank #HarperCollinsPublishers and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to preview this book in exchange for an honest review. I highly recommend this book to both adults and young adults.

I have never read a Kevin Wilson book, so I didn't go into this having any expectations or knowledge other than what I had read in the book blurb. While this story wasn't exactly what I was expecting, it surprised me in a good way.

I could absolutely relate to being Frankie and Zeke's age in 1996, and this took me back to my own high school summers, sitting around in the heat, sans modern internet, trying to figure out what to do that was worth our time doing it.

Frankie and Zeke want to create something special and impactful, something to make themselves feel seen and validated in their awkward coming-of-age years. They collaborate on a cryptically worded and illustrated poster that they covertly plaster all over their small town, but the teens have no idea how dramatically people will react to their art, how far it will spread, and how it will continue to impact and influence their lives many years later.

It's the power of art, connection, intimacy, identity, rebellion, teen angst, nostalgia, obsession, and a dash of melancholy all wrapped into one, and I loved almost every minute of it. For as much as I loved Frankie and Zeke's teenage story, I just wasn't as engaged with the modern storyline. I do think it was written and portrayed in a realistic manner, but I found that I wasn't as invested in adult Frances and Ben as I was in Frankie and Zeke, and I wasn't totally satisfied with the ending.

Side Note: I skipped over the Author's Note at the beginning of the book and saved it for afterward, and I am really glad that I did. As other reviews have mentioned, it's a bit spoiler-y, so I'm grateful that I didn't read it ahead of time. It definitely makes more sense to have this particular Author's Note at the end of the book in the final version!

This may be my favorite book I’ve read all year.

I really loved Nothing To See Here and Kevin Wilson’s ability to craft a story that is unique, full of heart, funny, and strange all at once made me not even hesitate to pick up this new book. And I was not disappointed.

Frankie and Zeke decide to spend a summer creating art, and when they anonymously post copies of a piece of artwork they made all around their small town, the town assumes something satanic and dark is going on and things get wildly out of hand.

This book is giving the 90’s, small town Tennessee, a fictitious iconic pop culture moment, and awkward teenage friendship. It is delightful and strange in the absolute best way and made me feel a lot of feelings.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for an advance reader’s copy of this book!

I read this amazing book all day today and am still reeling from it. This is a book that needs to be discussed and studied. There is so much symbolism to the plot, where something as obscure as a poster created by two bored teenagers could escalate into events on such a huge level. It made me think of the Covid panic and vaccine controversies, the Third Reich and how people were lured into its sick ideology, cults, politics, and other extreme situations that snowball, sweeping people up in the process. I thought it was just brilliant. One of the best books I've read all year!

Kevin Wilson quickly became one of my favorite authors with "Nothing To See Here," and I was so thrilled to be approved for this ARC. I love his knack for taking a story and stretching it into the absurd without fanfare or ridiculousness, because you're with the characters every step of the way.

This is an alternately heartwarming and heartbreaking story about two teenagers who create an anonymous piece of art that ultimately causes a national panic. Even though the two main characters are teenagers, I had no problem relating to them as an adult, which is another testament to Wilson's writing.

An average length book with mighty heart, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a creative, engaging story.

This was a great coming of age story about friendship and art. I really enjoy Kevin Wilson’s style of writing and this book did not disappoint.

I didn’t know it was possible to love this book more than his last, but goddammit if he didn’t create another masterpiece! I’m obsessed with his writing, and absolutely adored this brilliantly clever and profoundly wonderful story. Go preorder it, you’ll thank me later. The end.

Excellent story, creative premise. Great follow up to the beloved Nothing to See Here. I am glad she finally got to tell her secret.