I loved Kevin Wilson‘s book "Nothing to See Here" in which a slightly overwhelmed babysitter takes care of combustible children - a fabulous found family story. So when I saw that Kevin Wilson had another book coming out, I had to request it on @netgalley and got lucky.
"Now Is Not the Time to Panic," is a fast read. Frankie, now a successful writer, doctor‘s wife and mother is suddenly forced to remember the summer when she was 16, an awkward kid with no friends but the desire to make art through writing and how she found another lonely artist and things got out of hand ...
The book is full of quirky characters facing unusual situations. The writing is exquisite and the plot interesting, so is the question of responsibility for unforeseen consequences and how you deal with those - a coming of age conundrum.
Kevin Wilson is a masterful storyteller, i loved listening to a podcast episode with the author where he tells a bit about the background and inspiration that went into this story.

“To be a teenager, it takes very little to think that someone else might actually know who you are, even as you spend all your time thinking that no one understands you.”

This quick, immersive book caught my interest and held it right away. I haven’t yet read anything else by the author, but now plan to.

This is such a unique story to me that it is hard to describe succinctly. It is a coming-of-age tale, and yet so much more. It’s about the power of art, and secrets. The need for community and being seen and known. The story is simple, and yet complex. The suspenseful aspects of “what is going to happen!?” Push you forward. Wilson writes about the 90’s in away that I had nostalgia for aspects of my own childhood.

An interesting read, that is worth your time! Thanks to @netgalley and @harpercollins for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. 3.5 Stars

Kevin Wilson, author of “Nothing to See Here,”  is back with his fourth novel of literary fiction, “Now is Not the Time to Panic.”  Sixteen year-old social outcast Frankie Budge lives in the small, sleepy town of Coalfield, Tennessee and meets a boy named Zeke who has just moved to town over the summer. Frankie is an aspiring author and Zeke is a passionate artist. Bored, they combine their artistic talents to create a piece of artwork - a poster with an unsettling mantra - and develop an obsession with hanging copies of the poster all over town. The town’s reaction to the poster spirals in an unexpected, soon uncontrollable direction that takes a dark turn, and Frankie and Zeke must reckon with the consequences.

In classic Wilson style, this book’s premise was extremely unique, and it asks interesting questions about morality and the power of art. I enjoyed Frankie as the nerdy but assertive narrator who is unapologetic about what she has created. Wilson shares in his foreword the autobiographical inspiration for this story, which was fascinating to think about when reading. So definitely don’t skip the foreword!

With that said, as a huge Kevin Wilson fan, I found this book to be lacking the same level of humor that he normally brings to his books, and certain parts of the story felt rushed while other sections felt unnecessary. For that reason, it wasn’t my favorite Wilson novel but it was nonetheless a very entertaining read and a great entry point into his work if you are interested!

Kevin Wilson is a great writer. His last book was great and this one is even better. I love the quirky characters and the unique situations in his books. This is a fast read, with crisp prose and likable characters. I'm still thinking about it a couple days after finishing.

I loved Kevin Wilson's book Nothing to See Here, it was like nothing I have ever read. Now Is Not the Time to Panic held my interest and I could not put it down. I thought that the repetition of the chorus was redundant but the overall story I enjoyed. I also appreciated the forward explaining how as an author Wilson came up with the tag line. I also enjoyed the character development, and felt very connected to the protagonist and her mother especially. Overall I enjoyed reading this book, it gave me a lot to think about and thought it was meaningful in a way of youth rebellion and asks meaningful question about what art's purpose is, it painted a lovely picture about how events shape each life differently.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Ecco for gifting me a digital ARC of this wonderful novel by Kevin Wilson - 5 stars!

In the 1990s in Coalfield TN, two teenagers who have both lost their dads and feel lost and lonely, come together and create art. Frankie wants to be a writer and comes up with a quote; Zeke wants to be an artist and illustrates the poster. They sign it with drops of their blood. Then with a copier in the garage stolen by Frankie's brothers, they make copies and start putting them all around the town. But the townspeople get scared and bad things start happening. Twenty years later, Frankie is now married and the mother of Junie, living now in KY, gets a phone call that threatens to expose her.

Oh my gosh, did I love everything about this story. I loved how the writer's note was the beginning of the story, explaining the phrase and making me already love the story before I started to read. This is a sweet coming-of-age story about two young people who don't fit in with anyone but themselves, trying to express themselves in art, and make a spot in the world. It's about friendship and secrets that both unite us and set us free. It's an absolute must read!

When two teens meet one summer in small-town Tennessee, their quirky qualities blend together to create a work of art that leads to chaos.

This was such a fun and quick read. There was some romance, some dark comedy, and really the story was just so quick and intriguing. This was a book that read like a movie, I could already envision it adapted for the screen in just the first few pages. I was somewhat bothered that Frankie's obsessions/conditions are never really addressed like Zeke's were, but overall this was just a quickly paced read that was satisfying from start to finish.

Happy pub day to This Is Not the Time to Panic @kevinwilsonauthor which will absolutely be on my list of favorite books of the year!

It’s hard to describe this book, and, honestly it’s better to go without knowing too much, but basically it’s about two lonely, misfit teens, Frankie and Zeke, who meet in a small Tennessee town and decide to spend the summer making art. It’s about their relationship, a piece of art, and the effects the art has.

I honestly loved everything about this book, although I imagine it might be a little more divisive than Wilson’s last book Nothing to See Here (which I also loved!). The story is told from Frankie’s point of view and I felt and understood and recognized every ounce of her teenage angst and how much she longs to be a person who makes a mark on the world. She’s an intense character, and I’m not sure everyone will have the same sense of being seen that I did reading her, but either way her journey is fascinating. Her relationship with Zeke is lovely and flawed and heartbreaking and also exactly how I remember teen relationships being. Imperfect and life-changing.

Then there’s the theme of art and how it has the potential to get ahold of you and get inside your bones and also change and become something you can’t control and something that you never meant it to be. The line “the edge is shanty town filled with gold seekers; we are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us” seems to burrow its way under Frankie’s skin and I understand that too. How a line in a poem or a song or a book or something someone says or something you write yourself can take that kind of hold and not let go.

Two lonely teenage misfits meet one summer and create art which changes their lives forever. Talk about a fantastic book! I loved reading this and can't believe this is the first book I have read by Kevin Wilson.

Sixteen-year-old Frankie Budge, an aspiring writer met Zeke, an artist that fateful summer. Zeke was staying at his grandmother's home and was as lonely as Frankie. Together they made an unsigned poster using a xerox machine and their own blood. They wrote about being fugitives and plastered their posters anywhere and everywhere all over town. People talked about the posters, people speculated about their origin and what the posters meant, and things take a turn....

Twenty years later, Frankie is a happily married woman with a daughter. She is a famous author and enjoys her life until one day she receives a phone call that threatens everything. Mazzy Brower, a journalist is writing about what happened twenty years ago. Will this be what destroys Mazzy's life? She needs to talk to Zeke.

This book was so good!!!! I loved the writing, the plot, and the characters. I did not want to put this book down, so I didn't. This can easily be read in one sitting. Be prepared to be glued to the pages as I was.

I look forward to reading more of his work soon.


Thank you to Ecco and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

When the past haunts the present, reckoning is the only path to recovery. In his Now is Not the Time to Panic, Kevin Wilson illustrates this through perspective of Frankie, a writer from Coalfield, Tennessee in two main stages of her life. The primary narrative takes place during the summer when Frankie is 16 years old and explores her relationship with Zeke, a teenaged artist visiting Coalfield as his mother is fleeing from domestic abuse. The two join forces, creating an unsigned poster and posting it throughout Coalfield. The past is put into conversation with the present through the story’s nonlinear narrative, opening with adult Frankie receiving a call from journalist Mazzy Brower, a woman who claims to know about an event that could ruin her safe domestic life.
The novel itself is organized into two main sections: “The Edge is a Shantytown Filled with Gold Seekers” and “We are Fugitives, and the Law is Skinny with Hunger for Us.” The combination of this particular phrasing is repeated constantly throughout this novel; it also appears in several of Wilson’s other books, including The Family Fang which made the New York Times’ bestseller’s list. Entering the scope of the novel as Frankie’s contribution to her poster with Zeke, the narrator becomes obsessed with the expression. As the novel is told from her perspective, this language is intertwined into the universe of the text, preventing the reader from receiving any respite. The phrase itself loses meaning each time it is mentioned; by the end of the novel, the energy behind it is lost.
While Wilson’s understanding of the plot’s trajectory is clear, there were integral moments that did not seem to be rooted in our own reality, causing the reader to suspend our disbelief and creating distance between the reader and the narrator. After Coalfield had been coated in the poster, the small-town backlash against their guerilla modern art movement expands, and the poster quickly gains nationwide popularity. As the poster gains more traction, Frankie’s prose is compared to the works of Rimbaud and other literary greats. While the ages of both writers are similar, “The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. The law is skinny with hunger for us” doesn’t quite compare to “And from then on I bathed in the Poem/ Of the Sea, infused with stars and lactescent …” As such, it’s difficult to imagine millions of people rallying behind Frankie’s tagline. Wilson’s intertextual contextualization of Frankie’s work seems to make her impact fall flat.
Granted, I don’t believe that I am the intended audience of this novel. I found it difficult to relate to some aspects of the plot that centered Frankie’s identity as a young woman as they felt out of the scope of my lived experiences. It feels unrealistic when Frankie’s mother wakes her up in the middle of the night, probing her to confirm that she will be careful when embarking on sexual relations. When Frankie responds “Thank you, Mom. Thank you for caring about me” instead of being frustrated, the unrealistic nature of this scene is furthered. In moments like these, it becomes apparent to the reader that Wilson is alienated from the discourse of growing up as a teenage girl.
That being said, there certainly were moments where I could see myself in Frankie. When introducing Zeke to spaces that she loves, Frankie’s nervousness and internal bargaining is highlighted. Wilson writes, “And if he didn’t, if the old-timey pharmacy where you could get cherry limeades didn’t impress him, I’d tape one of our posters under the counter and then how could he not feel something like love for it?” Wilson’s wording here is perfect, speaking to the need for loved spaces to be accepted by those you care about without directly making this observation. Moments like this help to bring the more unbelievable features of the novel back into our world, working to bridge the gap between fiction and reality.
All novels that require some level of suspension of disbelief and disconnect to reality speak to certain audiences. If you’re a reader who is willing to solely consider the plots and characterizations that Wilson presents within the scope of the novel, Now is Not the Time to Panic may be a strong candidate for your TBR list. For those of us who have trouble connecting to such narratives, one’s time may be better spent elsewhere.

My first Kevin Wilson novel, but not my last. I enjoyed Wilson’s unadorned writing and the original, offbeat story about two teenagers and small town paranoia.

Sixteen-year-old Frankie faces a long hot, boring and lonely summer while her single mom and older brothers work. When she meets the new boy in town, Zeke, the two teens bond over art, writing, music and movies. Together, Frankie and Zeke create a provocative poster that sets off a panic across their town and beyond. I don’t want to say too much about the plot, because it’s better to experience how secrets are made and revealed. Suffice it to say that the frame story of adult Frankie, reminiscing about this summer, will have you rethinking the teen relationship and the unpredictable paths one’s life might take.

This books is a sympathetic portrayal of teens who both want to fit in and make their unique mark on the world. You can’t help rooting for Zeke and Frankie, and the author’s note added even more background and depth to the origin of this book and the mysterious phrase at its heart.

Wilson’s earnest writing resonated with me and I think this quirky heartwarming story will stay with me a while. The novel sometimes veers into Young Adult territory, but I think readers of all ages could see reflections of themselves and enjoy this tender story of mischief and mayhem.

Read this novel if you like stories about:
* lonely, awkward and lovable characters
* misunderstandings and chaos
* small-town life
* 1990s pop culture
* the power of art to change lives

Thank you to Ecco Books and NetGalley for the advance reader’s e-proof in exchange for my honest review.

"Nothing to See Here" is one of my all time favorite reads, so when I saw that Kevin Wilson had written another book, I absolutely had to read it. "Now Is Not the Time to Panic," like "Nothing to See Here," is fully of quirky characters facing unusual situations. The writing is exquisite and the plot interesting enough, but I have to admit, it left me wanting more. Kevin Wilson is a top notch storyteller, but this book lacked the charm and wit of his previous book about the combustible children.

Frankie and Zeke are two lonely teenagers from broken families who connect through a mutual desire to make art and leave a mark on the world. What they didn't anticipate is how their one seemingly small impulsive act of rebellion would spin out of control, resulting in death and changing the culture forever.

This was a quick read and I am glad I took the time to read it; I just think my expectations were too high, leaving me a bit disappointed. However, I am grateful to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review. I

Happy Release Day to this wild little book!

This was my first book by Wilson, but I’ll definitely be checking out past and future works now. This book was so weird and I was so into it. All of the characters and their behaviors were truly bizarre, and the overall mystery was so unique and strange that it completely sucked me in.

I think a big part of the charm of this story is how it embraces nostalgia. The general tone of Frankie’s narration took me back to the awkwardness and angst of teenage life - in both good and bad ways. It just felt so incredibly realistic, while telling the story of events that (as stated above) are just so wonderfully quirky.

My only issue was that I wished there had been more variety in narration from young Frankie to adult Frankie. On one hand, I can see how both she and Zeke are stuck in a state of stunted adolescence, which is mirrored by how she presents herself. On the other, it was a bit jarring for her voice to not have changed at all during the time jump, for her to not have matured even a bit. But it’s a minor criticism in the grand scheme of the book, and I’d definitely recommend this if you want to read something different!

Thank you to Ecco Books and Netgalley for the ARC!

I don't think anyone can write small-town Tennessee coming-of-age life quite like Kevin Wilson. As someone who came of age in a rural TN town, I can confirm he's spot-on.

Of course I fell in love with his last book, Nothing to See Here and this book is no different. If you loved that one, pick this one up too.

This book follows Frankie Budge, a quirky, lonely 16-year old living in Coalfield, TN. She meets the new kid in town, Zeke and they become fast friends, telling the other all about their lives and dreams for the future. They decide to make art together (As bored children do who live in rural areas. Our art was usually choreographed dances or making the wackiest outfit from my mom's closet, but I digress.) and when they finish, they have made a cool looking, mysterious poster which they decide to put all over town. Folks start getting a little freaked out about these posters and their art piece begins to spiral out of control and causes what is later termed the "Coalfield Panic of 1996." The two decide to keep it a secret that they ever made it.

Cut to 2017 - Frankie receives a phone call from a reporter who has pieced together that she is the one who started the Coalfield Panic. Now what??

I'm obsessed with the section of this book that mentions all the pop culture phenomenons that this little poster caused. My favorite being a Flaming Lips concept album, which I'm honestly bummed out it doesn't actually exist.

In the beginning of the ARC I received, Wilson talks about his inspiration for writing this book and it made the book even more beautiful. He describes the loneliness of his freshman year of college and the friends he made that involved him in their art, just like Frankie and Zeke did. Don't skip this section when reading, my friends.

This book is about friendship, coming-of-age, the immortality of youth, small-town life, the power of words, and it's just wonderful.

The premise of Now Is Not the Time to Panic is *chef's kiss* High school students Frankie and Zeke are out of school for the summer and make an artsy little poster that they start hanging all over their small Tennessee town. It includes these words: "The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us." The posters mysterious appearance and the cryptic message cause a full-blown satanic panic and a domino effect of unintended consequences. The novel bounces between Frankie now, as a grownup who has kept the secret of the Panic for the last 20 years, and Frankie of 1996, both equally obsessed with the cryptic phrase she has written. Make sure you read the author's note to get the backstory on Kevin Wilson's own obsession with "the edge is a shantytown..." I have loved everything I've read by Kevin Wilson, and this quirky, thoughtful book is no different. 5 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Now is Not the Time to Panic is Kevin Wilson's latest book. And it's one of the most unique, offbeat, complex, additive, perfect books I've read in a long time.

Frankie is sixteen and lives in the small town of Coalfield, Tennessee. She's a loner by choice. When Zeke moves to town, she finds a kindred soul. Frankie writes and Zeke is an artist. They decide to collaborate on a project - a poster that they'll anonymously post around town. Frankie's words are oddly powerful and unsettling. Zeke's illustrations are also compelling and disconcerting. But soon the project grows in dangerous leaps and bounds...

"The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us."(Say it a few times - it is addictive and intriguing, isn't it?)

That small town summer is seen through Frankie's thoughts, actions and experiences. The poster is important, but its not all of the story. The book is also a coming of age tale, an exploration of family, young love, self, friendship, and yes, art. Bookending that summer is the grown up Frankie's voice, twenty years on.

I was immediately drawn to Frankie. Zeke was harder to get to know. I'm sure that Wilson's depiction of teenage angst will spark memories for many readers. But the supporting players are just as interesting and offbeat. Frankie's mom appealed to the adult in me.

I think Wilson has written a wonderful story, remarkable in so many ways. His insight captured me. As for how it ends - not what I expected, but suits what has gone before.

“How did you prevent your life from turning into something so boring that no one wanted to know about it? How did you make yourself special?”

It is the summer of 1996, and Frankie is a 16-year-old bookish introverted girl living in a dismal town called Coalfield, when she meets Zeke, similarly nerdy, who just moved there from Memphis. Frankie is writing a novel and Zeke likes to draw, and one day they decide to create something together. Frankie comes up with the cryptic phrase, “The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.” She writes it on a piece of paper with a black crayon, then Zeke illustrates it with “power lines…shacks…a burned-out car…a pack of wild dogs…and two giant, disembodied hands, the fingers withered and jagged…reaching for…children in…beds….” Frankie has an old Xerox machine in her garage, and she and Zeke blanket the town with their poster, keeping their authorship secret. All kinds of theories emerge about who made the poster and what it means; an art professor compares it to the work of Basquiat, a couple teens make up stories about the “fugitives” capturing them, the sheriff declares it the work of “dark forces,” and people start to get obsessed and out of control with it.

Twenty years later Frankie is contacted by a reporter who believes Frankie created the poster that created what had come to be known as “The Coalfield Panic,” and Frankie grapples with whether she will tell her story.

I read Now Is Not the Time to Panic because I had loved author Kevin Wilson’s previous quirky novel, Nothing to See Here, about young siblings who spontaneously combust when they get upset. Wilson has a knack for connecting with the oddities in all of us, and we can’t help but love his characters who are just trying to cobble together a sense of self-worth however they can.

I adored Kevin Wilson's book Nothing to See Here, so I was super excited for his new one. Now Is Not the Time to Panic didn't hit quite as strong for me, but I still thought it was excellent writing with a slightly odd, very unique coming of age storyline -- two bored teenagers who start a national panic with a simple poetic line, pencil sketch, and an old Xerox copier... A little far-fetched, but just realistic enough.

Frankie and Zeke are my new favorite characters, period. I loved the passage of time. I loved the way their relationship developed. I am a sucker for teen angst, so this was right up my alley. Reminded me a bit of a Sally Rooney novel!

“The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.” This sentence repeatedly as it pretty much covers the overall prose of the novel, and you would be wondering why it is repetitive and how it is reflective of the author’s experience as a teenager or young adult.

Now is Not the Time to Panic is a book by Kevin Wilson that revolves around the themes of coming-of-age romance, mental health issues, and teenager problems. The main protagonist, Frankie Budge is a sixteen-year-old girl who wants to become a writer, befriends a boy by the name of Zeke Brown during the Summer of 1996 in Coalfield, Tennessee. From there, their interests in writing and art, respectively, created an artwork that will change their lives forever. Both of them have seen similarities in their lives because their fathers are absent in their lives plus the typical family disputes prompted by divorce. Because of those circumstances, it sparked friendship and curiosity between the two teenagers, which prompted them to create the infamous poster with the words, The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us, has captivated and frightened the people of Coalfield and numerous people around the country and caused a major panic. While it is safe to say that the idea of poster-making of two teenagers are for their own fun, it prompted them to subconsciously insinuate fear among the people. Why did they make it in the first place? What will they benefit from making it?

The setting of the whole novel is where the author’s place of residence. The prose that this novel gives out as where teenagers are going through their “rebellious phase” in their lives. The novel tries to relate the readers with the experiences with self-identification and the curiosity towards the act of sex. Although, arguably, the book addresses mental health issues among the teenagers.

The glimpse of what the teenagers are up to during the late 90s in Tennessee and how Frankie describes summer as “Nothing was happening” (13), and that is not to say that it only happens in Tennessee, but also everywhere in the world. Teenagers are always up to an adventure because they are trying to discover themselves for who they really are. And that is why, with the combined artistry of Zeke and the writing prowess of Frankie, came up with a poster that caused panic in their state which is also a reflection of their rebellious phase.

“I wish I was dead,” as Zeke tells Frankie about their posters gaining tractions from people after they posted it all over their town, has become a source of his mental instability. The poster’s symbolic significance manifested to who Frankie and Zeke are as teenagers. It is also a reflection of them being “gold seekers” because they do not really know what they want; they are trying to seek something, but they have no idea what it is. Maybe it’s their own way of killing their boredom over the summer?

The haori-wearing Mr. Avery is an underrated character of the novel. While he is seen as a typical old man dying of cancer, he pretty much is the only one who validated Frankie and Zeke’s poster and has become their “partner in crime” for hiding their posters when the panic is happening and by telling her to “not tell a single soul” (159). The interaction between these two has somewhat occupied the void in Frankie’s life as Mr. Avery, at that moment, acted like a father-figure to her, where Frankie can count on.

The Mazzy Brower chapters puts the reader into a spot that makes them think who she is. The journalist was introduced in a way that she might destroy Frances’ (she uses her real name to indicate that she’s an adult in the time skip) reputation, but it turns out that she just wants to know the details of the Coalfield Panic in 1996. This come across as a disappointing turn of events because the chapters that are dedicated to Mazzy Bower feels like irrelevant after a few chapters because there is a build up from the beginning that Mazzy might sensationalize the story in order to, again, destroy Frances’ reputation.

The introduction of the book pretty much explained why the infamous phrase was stated over and over again. Frankie’s character reflects Wilson’s experiences during his freshman year at the university, as stated in the book, how he felt like an outsider, similar to Frankie’s character—searching for what it is to be herself.