I am definitely in the minority here, because I know tons of people who follow Kevin WIlson religiously and love everything he writes. Unfortunately, I have not had the same experience. I am not a fan. I thought if I heard the whole "shantytown" phrase one more time I would scream. That being said, we will definitely get a copy for the collection.

Two teenagers, a Vaseline-greased watermelon, and a Xerox machine: all these things unite to create the story of a summer-long pursuit of art and belonging that spirals out of control.

Now is Not the Time to Panic is a novel by Kevin Wilson that takes place in the summer of 1996 in Coalfield, Tennessee. Two teenagers—Frankie, a loner and writer, and Zeke, an artist with a dark side—are drawn together by an itch for companionship. The teenagers decide to collaborate on a poster that will be hung up all around the town, featuring Frankie’s writing and Zeke’s artwork. The phrase featured on the poster, “The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us,” becomes a mantra for Frankie and Zeke, consuming both of their psyches to the point of obsession. The teenagers, caught up in their desire to create anonymous and impactful artwork, learn the consequences of what happens when something you create is swept up out of your control when the entire town, oblivious to Frankie and Zeke’s involvement, becomes hysterical over the suddenly-materialized posters.

Now is Not the Time to Panic is Kevin Wilson’s fourth novel, and his second novel to take place in Tennessee. Looking at Wilson’s previous work, it’s worth noting that all his novels feature a female narrator or protagonist, and Now is Not the Time to Panic is no different, with Frankie acting as narrator.

This novel is an entertaining and quick read; it’s easy to fall into the world that Frankie presents, and one can’t help but feel sympathetic towards her goals as a writer.

However, the story lacks believability. The entire plot consists of one unlikely event after another, with a sitcom cast of characters that all seem to check an archetype box: the well-meaning but clueless mom, the teenage-dirtbag brothers, the dark and mysterious love interest, and the “not-like-other-girls” girl. None of these characters feel real, and it’s impossible to buy into the conflict when you expect a laugh track to sound off.

There’s a disappointing lack of suspense in this novel. Moments of escalation in the story are told without any gravitas, making it feel as if the reader is bouncing from one plot point to the next. The reader is left waiting for something to happen that will monumentally impact the tone and pacing of the novel, making it difficult to tell when the climax of the story occurs.

Frankie’s character is shockingly unlikeable: despite her direct involvement in the events that unfold that summer, Frankie is emotionally void of any consequences for her actions towards others, claiming, “I didn’t care if I was a bad person anymore.”

Frankie shows that her focus is on her own self-fulfillment and glorification—when things get hairy, and Zeke wants to back out and move away from Coalfield, Frankie threatens to expose them as the authors of the poster to coerce Zeke into staying with her. At another point, Zeke, who struggles with his own emotions, declares “I wish I was dead.” In response, Frankie threatens to kill herself if Zeke dies, asking, “You think your life is worse than mine?” Frankie doesn’t care about Zeke’s well-being or his concerns about their futures. Instead, Frankie displays a deranged obsession with the poster and “the phrase,” which is never scrutinized by the adult version of Frankie as the narrator. In fact, her obsession is held on a pedestal and is maintained into adulthood.

Speaking of the “the phrase,” the novel relies on it far too much, repeating it countless times to string the reader along till the end of the novel, keeping us tethered in case we float off. The story behind “the phrase,” as revealed in Wilson’s introduction to the novel, is that a dear friend of Wilson’s made it up in undergrad, and it became “hardwired” into his brain. Because of Wilson’s sentiment towards this phrase, its role in the novel feels forced—as the “heart of the book,” the entire story was crafted around this phrase, making the plot and characters seem like devices for the phrase, not the other way around.

I remember the days when the “young adult novel” reigned supreme—zingy, sexy, but ultimately shallow, relegated to the shelves of my middle school library. Now is Not the Time to Panic, despite its own insistence that it’s saying something profound, is actually a few YA novels stacked in a trench coat, attempting to sneak onto a college reading list. If you want to be entertained with a story about friendship, art, and memory—as promised by Wilson—I suggest you look elsewhere.

This was a strange one to me. I am still processing how I felt about it. I liked the premise of two outsiders who felt like they made something happen but the whole story was a bit slow moving for me. I felt like there wasn't anything that really kept me engaged. I can see how some would love it but I just don't think that this one was for me.

Another top read in the books for me, I absolutely loved it. The audio is also fantastic, just as an FYI. Wilson has a way of drawing you in with a great story and then endearing you to the characters, Frankie and Zeke were wonderful, I loved their trajectory and growth throughout the story. This plot was so creative and while it was a bit unbelievable but I could totally see it happening at the same time. This book has stuck with me long after I’ve read it, and Wilson is a top author for me at this point, I just love his work.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for the digital copy to review. This one needs to be on your radar for sure, and do not miss the author’s note at the end.

I really liked the story line and the characters. The book wasn't as quirky as I have come to expect from Wilson and it moved a little slower than I would normally like. However, I was totally invested in it and enjoyed reading it and Wilson holds the honor of being one of my favorite authors.

What a uniquely strange little book! I enjoyed it, but no clue what I was expecting. I wish there was more resolution by the end, but obviously that was intentional. I am not sure if this book was for me but I did enjoy and will look up other titles by this author.

𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦!

What a difficult review to write, I read this book is full of heart, and I agree, but it is full of so much more. A beautifully written coming of age novel, about love, art, growing up, weird kids, funny and quirky moments that will capture your heart. It’s a story that will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you Ecco Books Libro.fm and NetGalley for this gifted copy.

𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗜𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰 by Kevin Wilson Author released November 8, 2022.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

Loved this! The quirky, unique premise, the coming of age story and the reflection from adulthood. This story about Frankie and Zeke and what they did in their small town the summer they turned 16 was addicting and compelling to read. I loved seeing how they chose to handle their circumstances. I also loved Frankie’s mom as a minor character. Anyone who enjoys a coming-of-age story but prefers literary fiction will adore this novel.

Fun coming of age story but not the best one out there.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

I felt a lot of nostalgia with this book. While I wasn't quite the loner that Frankie was, the whole scenario seemed like something I totally would have bought into. The book is quirky and captures small-town teenage angst pretty well. You get a little slice of a teenage summer and how this one summer and one friendship could change so much.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ecco Books for the electronic copy.

Kevin Wilson's wonderfully odd 1990s coming-of-age novel centers around teens Frankie and Zeke, their mysterious artistic creation, and the work's ripple effect, which reaches well beyond what they ever could have imagined.

Sixteen-year-old aspiring writer Frankie is just trying to get through a late 1990s summer in Coalfield, Tennessee, where she's lived all her life. Despite her noisy, raucous household (she has triplet brothers and a busy single mom), she's used to being a loner.

But then a new kid, Zeke, moves into his grandmother's house with his mom, who's in Coalfield nursing a heartbreak. Zeke is an artist, also a loner, and he's fascinating to Frankie.

Frankie and Zeke want to create something--something strange, something people will notice, yet something that is all their own.

They come up with an original enigmatic phrase and add attention-getting artwork, then spread mysterious posters of their creation far and wide--causing speculation, alarm, and repercussions far beyond what they could have predicted.

As he did in a different way in his novel Nothing to See Here, in Now Is Not the Time to Panic, Wilson creates a fascinatingly odd situation, then offers characters' vulnerabilities and imperfections to bring the story to life.

By tracking the fictional course of events as they spiral out of control, exploring Zeke and Frankie's potential responsibility as the creators of the original artwork, then following them to a much later point in their lives, when the truth about the work's origins begins to emerge, Wilson paints a full picture that spans the characters' coming-of-age young adoration as well as their separate adult lives--and how "the poster" unequivocally shaped them into who they are today.

Wilson's Author's Note, which precedes the novel, explains the phrase from the story's poster and what it meant to him in real life. He shares the way in which the concept of the novel grew from hearing the utterance of this phrase in his youth, and explores the circumstances surrounding it.

I received a prepublication edition of this book courtesy of Ecco and NetGalley.

I really enjoyed Wilson's last book, Nothing to See Here. I read it while feverish and miserable with the flu, and it made me lose track of my own personal crud while fully invested in his strange and sardonic off-kilter world. Now I finally read Now is Not the Time to Panic when holed up in the same guest room with a miserable cold that isn't Covid or flu or anything fancy- just a run-of-the-mill crud. And again I was transported. This time, to a small town in the middle of nowhere in the 90s. The foreward about this semi-autobiographical novel (sorta?) made it poignant, but the novel stands on its own. I couldn't devour it fast enough. These characters are so real it felt like they lived in my own adolescence. This is a meditation on art and what it means to create, and also how as we create we unintentionally destroy. It's given me a lot to think about. Five stars on the map, marking Wilson's mark on the world and my own fugitive heart.

"The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us." Sixteen-year-old Frankie Budge is an aspiring writer from suffocatingly small Coalfield, Tennessee. In 1996, during summer's dog days, she meets fellow awkward teen Zeke, an aspiring illustrator. The two loners pool their artistic talents to create a poster with the above quote, conceived on the fly by Frankie, some hand drawings by Zeke, and a few drops of their mingled blood. In the spirit of the mid 90s, they post xeroxed copies all over town. "It felt like alchemy, like all those brooms in Fantasia, like the world was finally big enough for the things that we cared about, that we'd make it ourselves.” As in Disney's Fantasia, the poster, with its enigmatic phrase, begins to take on a life of itself, inspiring copycats, fanatics, and bizarre rumors of its origin. It and its spawned chaos soon spread well beyond the boundaries of Coalfield.  Twenty years later, a call from an arts journalist threatens to pitch Frankie's new and well-ordered life into renewed chaos.God, I love Kevin Wilson's mind, and his ability to sell an absurd premise. In "Nothing to See Here," he introduced us to children who spontaneously burst into flames. Something to see, indeed. With this newest novel, panic indeed ensues, to a somewhat absurd degree. This book is a coming-of-age novel with a side of commentary on cultural paranoia. It's about the impact of art and young love, and the pitfalls of nostalgia. It's another win for Kevin Wilson. What deliberately disingenuous title will he come up with next? I'm never not going to read it.
[Thanks to Ecco and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy and share my opinion of this book.]

Thank you NetGalley and Ecco for the Advanced Copy of this book! Kevin Wilson’s talent for writing offbeat, peculiar characters shines through in this novel, but the plot somewhat fell flat for me. While it kept me entertained, I wish there were a bit more depth and connection, it just felt like a bit of a stretch overall. I wanted to understand Frankie a bit deeper - aside from the obvious parental issues, what drove her to be so obsessive over this art? Why did it speak to her so deeply? I will say, Frankie and Zeke's relationship was well-crafted and a perfect portrait of teen romance, quirky and awkward and beautiful. This was also a fascinating depiction of group-think and panic, and I could see something like this really happening somewhere in current day America, so i enjoyed that aspect! I would still recommend Kevin Wilson's writing to anyone who likes offbeat, creative characters, but I think Nothing to See Here was more fleshed out and effective from a thematic standpoint.

Such a unique book by Kevin Wilson that will keep you thinking long after you are done reading it. Quirky characters that you will grow to care about, coming of age, being awkward, and not fitting in. Events that change the course of your life. Enjoyable and thought provoking. Sensitive underlying humor. Very good. Kevin Wilson is a auto buy for me.

Kevin Wilson is an absolute master at packing full a relatively short book with meaning and depth. The environment and characters are so clear and distinct. You can feel the teenage angst of Frankie and Zeke, the way that their creativity spills out of them the way it does when everything still feels achievable and possible, their fraught connection. It's Kevin Wilson, so it has the element of quirk that he's known for- it's not silly, but it seems just on the edge (ha) of possibility that even a small town would react the way it does to the appearance of photocopied posters. This was gorgeous and moving.

I loved Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson! Set in 1996, two awkward teens meet at the community pool one summer. Zeke is new to town and doesn’t know anyone, so Frankie invites him over. They decide to create art together, an unusual poster with a memorable phrase and seal it with their blood—the ultimate friendship bond. They secretly hang these posters and hide them around town….and it intrigues everyone! I love these characters he created and really enjoyed this book. Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for an advanced copy. Available now.

Now is Not the Time to Panic is such a special book! Kevin Wilson perfectly captures the essence of how it feels to be outside or other. We follow Frankie and Zeke's story during the summer of 1996 - a poster, "the panic," a friendship, and a secret that reverberates for years to come. The characters are real and well-developed and I felt sad as I got to the end of the book. I need the poster and the t-shirt!

Thank you to Ecco and NetGalley for this ARC.

In the summer of 1996 in the small town of Coalfield, Tennessee, Frances “Frankie” Budge meets a new kid in town named Zeke. The two bored teenagers decide to “make art” to pass the time. At first, Zeke draws cartoons and Frankie works on a novel she is writing. But then they decide to make a poster with a nonsensical saying and strange artwork. Frankie creates the saying “The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.” Zeke draws the artwork, which they then sprinkle with their blood. Using an old copier that Frankie’s triplet brothers had stolen a few years earlier, Frankie and Zeke start to plaster the poster all over town. Frankie in particular becomes obsessed with the poster and repeats the saying like an incantation. “We didn’t know about Xerox art or Andy Warhol or anything like that. “We thought we’d made it up. And I guess, for us, we had.”

What ensues is a hysteria that becomes known as The Coalfield Panic of 1996. The strange posters led to people believing conspiracy theories, vigilantes ready to shoot anyone they suspect of being involved, other people making new posters, and eventually several deaths. No one suspected Frankie and Zeke because they were the nerdy kids who flew under the radar. Zeke leaves Coalfield before the summer is over, and the two don’t speak again. Frankie becomes a successful author, who is happily married to a dentist with a seven-year-old daughter.

Author Kevin Wilson perfectly captures the boredom of creative kids who need an outlet to express themselves. It is a time when “every single thing that you loved became a source of both intense obsession and possible shame.” The story is being told by an adult Frankie in the year 2016 after she is contacted by an art critic who has figured out that Frankie was responsible. After years of guilt, she decides to talk to the critic for a piece that will be published in The New Yorker. But first, she must first tell her husband and her mother and then try to find Zeke to let him know.

I’m rounding this up to 4-stars because of the nostalgia. Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for my advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. This novel was published on November 8, 2022.

Frankie Budge lives with her mom and triplet brothers in a small, boring town in Tennessee in 1996. The summer she's sixteen, she meets town newcomer/fellow oddball Zeke Brown at the pool, and the two become friends. They create a bizarre poster with Frankie's words and Zeke's illustrations and hang it up all over town, causing mass hysteria. Years later, a journalist is investigating the "Coalfield Panic" and throws Frankie's life into a tailspin.

I LOVED this story. Frankie and Zeke were such annoyingly lovable, realistic weirdos, Wilson perfectly captured how it feels to be desperately bored and lonely and stuck in a town that's too small for you - and that frantic, painful level of obsession that belongs wholly to teenagers. This book was funny and strange and emotional -- I loved all of the ridiculous Satanic Panic stuff, the awkward kissing, Frankie's doofy brothers, their crappy dads, their checked out moms, all of it. Highly recommend!