Despite its modest length and scarcity of words, Robert Cormier's new novella is anything but slight. Set out like a poem, his chronicle of 12-year-old Eugene's summer days in a small, sleepy American town is both precise and powerful. Every word fits perfectly into place. Every sentence is economically short--yet each is loaded with an abundance of feeling and vivid description. That summer, Frenchtown was a place of Sahara afternoons, shadows in doorways, lingering evenings, full of unanswered questions and mysteries. The book tells of Eugene's graveyard explorations, his inquisitive awakenings, first impossible infatuation and encounters with friends and enemies. It is a journey that brings his distant, enigmatic father closer than he ever imagined. The death of his uncle has a profound effect on Eugene too--as does the ghostly sighting of an orange warplane. It was also the summer of my twelfth birthday, the summer of Sister Angela and Marielle LeMoyne (even though she was dead) and Raymond, and all the others, but especially my uncle Med and my father. Lyrical, poignant and hauntingly beautiful, Frenchtown Summer is a multi-layered treat that deserves to be read and re-read. -- John McLay

 

This book is part of a book series called Puffin Teenage Books .

There are 128 pages in this book. This book was published 2000 by Penguin Books Ltd .

Robert Cormier, originally a journalist, wrote for young adults for many years. His work is known for its devastating truthfulness. He has achieved success on both sides of the Atlantic. Robert Cormier lived most of his life in Massachussetts; he died in 2000.