I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the FRANKIE & BUG by Gayle Forman Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About the Book:

Author: Gayle Forman

Pub. Date: October 12, 2021

Publisher:  Aladdin

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 288

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

In the debut middle grade novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gayle Forman comes a poignant and powerful coming-of-age story that follows a young girl and her new friend as they learn about family, friendship, allyship, and finding your way in a complicated world.

It’s the summer of 1987, and all ten-year-old Bug wants to do is go to the beach with her older brother and hang out with the locals on the boardwalk. But Danny wants to be with his own friends, and Bug’s mom is too busy, so Bug is stuck with their neighbor Philip’s nephew, Frankie.

Bug’s not too excited about hanging out with a kid she’s never met, but they soon find some common ground. And as the summer unfolds, they find themselves learning some important lessons about each other, and the world.

Like what it means to be your true self and how to be a good ally for others. That family can be the people you’re related to, but also the people you choose to have around you. And that even though life isn’t always fair, we can all do our part to make it more just.

Praise for The FRANKIE & BUG:
“I knew I would like Frankie and Bug from the moment I started reading it. What I didn’t know is how much I would end up loving it (a realization that hit me about halfway through the book, when it took a turn I didn’t see coming). This joyful, occasionally heartbreaking, deeply moving thrill ride through the 80s has it all: a mystery to solve, boy bands, and the tender surprise of new friendships. I didn’t want it to end.” (R. J. Palacio, bestselling author of WONDER )

“This wonderful, bighearted book has everything a bored eleven-year-old could ask for: from ice cream and roller-skating to tabloid murders and family secrets. After you spend the summer with Frankie and Bug and their colorful costars, you’ll want to go back to Venice Beach every year. Gayle Forman, please make me another!” (Raphael Simon, a/k/a NYT Bestelling author Pseudonymous Bosch )

“A beautiful and tender story about the discovery of a powerful friendship, starring two fantastic kids and one extraordinary family.” (Newbery Award-winning author Rebecca Stead)

* “Through Bug’s innocent perspective, Forman illuminates the pains and injustices suffered by so many, and readers will avidly watch this young girl stand up to skinheads and relatives, discovering that “family” are those who have your back, loving you without conditions, and allowing you to be who you are. The characterizations, setting, and messaging are genuine and heart-tugging, making this a must-read.” (BOOKLIST, starred review)

“During a summer of change and big realizations, Bug learns vital and sometimes painful lessons about the power of embracing her true self and meeting people where they are. Forman (We Are Inevitable) tenderly depicts a girl whose understanding—of identity, sexuality, and prejudice—is rapidly expanding, and whose chosen family provides a safe, loving space in which to navigate her experiences and learn to show up as an ally.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Readers interested in complex emotional development and relationships will appreciate each character’s subtle nuances. Superb storytelling.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Review: This book was a real page turner. Reading this I had no idea what it entailed but I kept on reading and it absolutely just made me wonder who Frankie and Bug were. They seemed total opposites until they shared one thing in common. Course you will have to find that out for yourself. Danny and Bug seemed really close too. Until Bug starts to notice changes in her brother. All signs pointed to me that he was growing up and Bug was just beginning to realize that. The whole family plays one big role in this story. You’ll have fun discovering who the “Midnight Marauder” is and why Frankie made a map.

About Gayle Forman:

Gayle Forman is an award-winning author and journalist whose articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, and Elle in the US. Gayle Forman’s novel, If I Stay, was released as a blockbuster movie starring Chloë Grace Moretz in 2014. Her most recent YA novel is We Are Inevitable. Gayle lives in Brooklyn, New York with her family.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a finished copy of FRANKIE & BUG, US Only.

I made new wallpapers of all the main cast minus Benny which I am half way done with. I hope you guys like them.

Mental Floss did a Shelfies version of what’s on Dan’s Selves. So here’s what he had to share.

“This is the bow tie from the poster shoot for How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, a musical I did in New York about 10 years ago,

“This is a portrait of a dog we fostered that our friends then adopted. It’s a long story; suffice to say we are now dog godparents,” he says. “There is a company that will transpose a photo of your (or a friend’s) pet into a painting in the style of a historical portrait. This is Lex in some sort of 18th century military regalia. This is very stupid and brings me a ridiculous amount of joy.”

“This is a super fancy Scrabble board my parents gave me for Christmas many years ago,” Radcliffe says. “There’s not much else to say about it! It’s just cool!”

“One of my best friends, who I’ve known since I was 14 and is an incredibly clever and wonderful human being called Dr. Jess Wade, has recently written a book about nanoscience for children!” Radcliffe says. “It’s brilliantly written and beautifully illustrated [by Melissa Castrillón] and I highly recommend it to anyone who doesn’t want to explain nanoscience to their children themselves!”

In addition to writing a book and working her day job as a physicist at Imperial College London, Wade is on a mission to diversify the profiles of scientists featured on Wikipedia—so it’s fitting that the book is accompanied by a LEGO of Margaret Hamilton, a key player in NASA’s Apollo project, as well as a LEGO that references astronomer Nancy G. Roman, a.k.a. the “Mother of Hubble.” Nano is out September 14.

“I felt I had to include some LEGO here as it does occupy a lot of space on the shelves now due to an early pandemic flurry of LEGO-making activity, that has admittedly tailed off since I’ve been working again,” he says. “I particularly like LEGO Yoda because the eyes are slightly too real and give him a kind of permanently haunted/anxious look, which I was not expecting from the picture on the box, but which I very much related to in the early part of the pandemic.”

Photos courtesy of Daniel Radcliffe

Source: Mental Floss

Dan answers the internet’s most searched questions about himself. What plays has Daniel Radcliffe been in? What’s Daniel’s favorite Harry Potter? What kind of accent does he have? Who does he look like? Is he knighted?

Daniel Radcliffe played iconic characters in some of the most-watched films and shows of our lifetime, but does he remember the plot lines? Find out how the star of “Miracle Workers” fares in this episode of The Late Show’s “Plot Roulette.”