Freaky Fast Frankie Joe

Freaky Fast Frankie Joe
by Lutricia Clifton
Publisher: Holiday House

Ages: 8 to 12

Themes: Family & Relationships, Divorce and Single Parent Families, Siblings, Acceptance and Belonging, Inter-generational friendships, kid entrepreneurs.

Holiday House description: Twelve-year-old Frankie Joe Huckaby can’t find anything good to say about Clearview, Illinois, where he must spend the next ten months living with a father he knows only through birthday cards, a stepmother he didn’t know existed, and four half brothers intent on making him the “freak” of the town. His mother is in jail, so he has no choice . . . or does he?


When life in Clearview becomes unbearable, Frankie Joe hatches a plan to ride his old Rover Sport bicycle 1,400 miles through the middle of the Corn Belt back to the Lone Star Trailer Park in Laredo, Texas. For that he needs money, and so he opens Frankie Joe’s Freaky Fast Delivery Service. But Frankie Joe hasn’t counted on quirky clients, unpredictable winter weather, and his equally unpredictable new family.

His deliveries win new friends for Frankie Joe, a place in the rural Illinois community, and a sense of achievement. But his planned escape is destroyed by a heartbreaking betrayal, and Frankie Joe needs all his incredible resilience and the loving support of his new family to survive the devastating loss.


My take:

I was pleasantly surprised by Freaky Fast Frankie Joe. I suppose because I had put off reading it for a long time because I simple did not like the book cover. It did not appeal to me. Boy, am I glad I decided to read it. I really enjoyed it and made connections to my own life immediately. I have always been blessed with good friendships with older people and learned early on that they are a wealth of good advice and guidance. Frankie's older friends at the Lone Star Trailer Park are unique characters themselves and have influenced Frankie Joe in the way a parent would. He has difficulty adjusting to his new life with his new family and handles his rocky transition with good grace while planning to escape back to Texas. Frankie Joe starts up a delivery service and quickly impresses many residents of Clearview with his enterprising, respectful, and hardworking behavior. Always loyal to his mom, he clings to the hope that she  is doing everything she can to get the two of them back together.

Freaky Fast Frankie Joe will appeal to kids who have a bit of entrepreneurial and adventurous spirit. It would be a good choice for a book club with its social, emotional, and moral issues for discussion.

Download the Freaky Fast Frankie Joe Educator's Guide

Check out my Bluebonnet Book Club wiki: Freaky Fast Frankie Joe page. It includes games and activities that will enrich the reading experience.

AWARDS and HONORS for Freaky Fast Frankie Joe
IRA-CBC Children's Choice Award
Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List
South Carolina Children's Book Award Master List
Nebraska Golden Sower Award, Intermediate Nominee

It's Monday, What are You Reading June 17, 2013

 

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme began by Sheila at Book Journeys as a way to share what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and what is in store for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading. I first learned about it at Teach Mentor Texts. 

Professional Development:

Notice and Note by Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst

N and N has been a very useful reading strategy professional development read. The authors offer helpful strategies to assist student's in identifying six important "signposts" or markers and through use of  six anchor questions. Along with reading N and N, I have been participating in the Twitter book study under the hashtag #nnnchat with the last chat taking place this Thursday, June 20th at 8 p.m. CST/9 EST. The first two chats were filled with insightful observations from a very diverse group of teachers, librarians, literacy coaches and reading advocates. 

This week I read:
Freaky Fast Frankie Joe
by Lutricia Clifton

What a wonderful story this is. The cover lacked so much personality that I have long neglected to read it even though it is on the 2013-2014 Texas Bluebonnet Award master list. I am looking forward to book talking it with students in the fall and am currently working on my Freaky Fast Frankie Joe lesson plans which I will eventually add to my 2013 Bluebonnet Book Club wiki.

I liked book chatting about this TBA nominee with @utalaniz, a fellow Texas librarian who is also engaged in reaching out to readers through state award nominated titles.




Hold Fast by Blue Balliett was so wonderful. The cover had not appealed to me in the beginning but I soon fell in love with this beautiful and adventure filled story. I HIGHLY recommend Hold Fast and it will be a prominent part on my 2013-2014 library collection.

I received great book chat feedback from these fellow book lovers: @shannonclark7, @kelleemoye, @utalaniz, @libraryfanatic, @middlegrdreads, @jluss @Lori_A-Carter



Library Hold List
I was very happy to receive notice this week that these two goodies had come available from my library Hold List. I am planning a quiet reading weekend. Ha! That will never happen but I still like to pretend. (update: as predicted, my twin daughters created much drama so total lack of sleep. Thanks goodness I can escape into books).

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell  proved to be a delightful romance/social issue read. Unfortunately, this will not be a good match for my elementary school library but I will recommend it to my HS library buddies as a must have. My age definitely showed through as I was easily able to get the 80's references.

I had a lot of fun book chatting Eleanor and Park with @rainbowrowell @shannonclark7, @got_wanderlust, @mselke01, and @librarygrl2

Ok, now who is going to read a book with me this week? I start with Sapphire Blue and will be open to other suggestions. I am thinking something edgy-Emerald Atlas, Eleventh Plague, The 5th Wave, etc.


Sapphire Blue, by Kerstin Gier, is the sequel to Ruby Red, a science fiction fantasy involving time travel, I am just starting this title. I loved Ruby Red and look forward to reading Emerald Green as soon as it is released in America in October 2013. The series has been translated from German and a German version movie is in the works. 






Audio Books this week:

I like to listen to books at work. I read Divergent last year so decided to was time to re-visit the series as I go through my annual YA Summer Reads. This was one of my favorites and I look forward to reading Allegiant when it finally becomes available in 126 days!

I love to return to the Harry Potter series every year finishing up by Harry's and J. K. Rowling's birthdays on July 31st. This is my present to the duo. As I piddled around cleaning up my post-kids library this week, I listened and remembered all those great little tidbits that the HP movies were not able to squeeze in. One of my favorite parts is the Headless Hunt banquet that occurs in HP and the Chamber of Secrets. TRIVIA QUESTION: What year was Harry Potter born?

It is hard to believe that it's been 15 years since Harry Potter magically appeared in our literary world. I am looking forward to stocking my library shelves with the new updated cover September 2013. My library copies are barely holding themselves together due to all the love they receive. I kind of like the European version of HP and the Chamber of Secrets shown here on the right side of this page.

Very pretty! New cover of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Make a Magic Wand craft

Here is an amazing "make  your own magic wand" craft to help celebrate the new book cover.  

I am suggesting we create this activity at our next Librarian Hang Out. 

Source: majann.deviantart.com via Julee on Pinterest