Be Frank with Me

(Paperback, Main)

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Description

For some boys fitting in means standing out

Meet Frank - he isn't like other kids. He's as strange as he is brilliant. But Frank discovers the hard way that people don't like brilliant and they hate strange. Intrepid explorer, sartorial connoisseur, odd duck with great plumage; what Frank longs for - aside from a father - is a friend.

Meet Mimi Banning - a reclusive literary legend and mother to Frank. Mimi has been holed up in her Bel Air mansion for years, keeping her secrets and hiding Frank from a cruel world. Until Alice.

Meet Alice - a level-headed young woman who finds herself thrust into the Banning household, charged with looking after Mimi's unusual son. In so doing, Alice discovers what it really means to love someone. And she finds a part of herself she never knew was missing.

Funny, poignant and unforgettable, this novel - like Frank - is a one-off creation you'll fall in love with.

Reviews

Sit back...and enjoy the show. * New York Times Book Review *
Hilarious, poignant and full of unexpected gems. * Huffington Post *
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. -- starred review * Library Journal *
Readers will find themselves captivated. * People Magazine *
Witty dialogue, irresistible characters, and a touch of mystery make this sweet debut about a quirky Hollywood family an enjoyable page-turner. * Booklist *
Johnson's magnificently poignant, funny, and wholly original debut goes beyond page-turner status. Her charming, flawed, quietly courageous characters, each wonderfully different, demand a second reading. * Library Journal *
The curious incident of where'd you go, Salinger. * Kirkus Reviews *

Author Bio

Julia Claiborne Johnson worked at Mademoiselle Magazine before moving to Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband and their two children.