One Book Everyone Reads Book Discussion

Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

Join us to discuss our 2023 One Book, Everyone Reads title, "Now Is Not the Time to Panic," by Kevin Wilson.

An exuberant, bighearted novel about two teenage misfits who spectacularly collide one fateful summer, and the art they make that changes their lives forever

Sixteen-year-old Frankie Budge—aspiring writer, indifferent student, offbeat loner—is determined to make it through yet another summer in Coalfield, Tennessee, when she meets Zeke, a talented artist who has just moved into his grandmother’s house and who is as awkward as Frankie is. Romantic and creative sparks begin to fly, and when the two jointly make an unsigned poster, shot through with an enigmatic phrase, it becomes unforgettable to anyone who sees it. The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.

The posters begin appearing everywhere, and people wonder who is behind them and start to panic. Satanists, kidnappers—the rumors won’t stop, and soon the mystery has dangerous repercussions that spread far beyond the town.

Twenty years later, Frances Eleanor Budge gets a call that threatens to upend her carefully built life: a journalist named Mazzy Brower is writing a story about the Coalfield Panic of 1996. Might Frances know something about that?

A bold coming-of-age story, written with Kevin Wilson’s trademark wit and blazing prose, Now Is Not the Time to Panic is a nuanced exploration of young love, identity, and the power of art. It’s also about the secrets that haunt us—and, ultimately, what the truth will set free. (From the publisher)

Find a copy of the book here. Ebook and downloadable audiobook copies are available through Digital Library of Illinois or the Libby app. 

This program is presented as part of the library’s One Book, Everyone Reads community reading program. Learn more about the series and this year’s selected book, Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson, here.

Make sure to join us for our signature author event, a conversation between Kevin Wilson and Alison Cuddy, on Thursday, May 11 at 7pm. Register here.

One Book, Everyone Reads is funded by the Friends of the Wilmette Public Library.

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