Frenchtown Summer [Mass Market Paperback]

Robert Cormier (Author), Dan Krovatin (Illustrator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0440228549 | ISBN-13: 978-0440228547 | Publication Date: June 12, 2001

Eugene is remembering the summer of 1938 in Frenchtown, a time when he began to wonder “what I was doing here on the planet Earth.” Here in vibrant, exquisite detail are his lovely mother, his aunts and uncles, cousins and friends, and especially his beloved, enigmatic father. Here, too, is the world of a mill town: the boys swimming in a brook that is red or purple or green, depending on the dyes dumped that day by the comb shop; the visit of the ice man; and the boys’ trips to the cemetery or the forbidden railroad tracks. And here also is a darker world–the mystery of a girl murdered years before. Robert Cormier’s touching, funny, melancholy chronicle of a vanished world celebrates a son’s connection to his father and human relationships that are timeless.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Robert Cormier, much-lauded author of fiction for teens, pulls a switch on his readers with this memoir in blank verse, and proves to be an equally dazzling success as a poet. The story takes place in the streets, alleys, and tenements of the French-Canadian district of Monument called Frenchtown, familiar to Cormier fans from Fade, Heroes, and Tunes for Bears to Dance To. A bookish young boy, lonely in his big family, spends his thirteenth summer watching, learning, fearing, wondering--"in the days when I knew my name, but did not know who I was." He yearns for a sign of love from his enigmatic, silent father, and hides a terrible secret about his beloved uncle and the girl whose broken body was found in the woods long ago. This is vintage Cormier--he has distilled the most powerful themes and images of his previous books into one intensely beautiful and deceptively small work. Every poem is capable of standing alone, yet each additional chapter adds insights and events to carry the story forward. The voice is natural and easy, recognizable from his earlier novels but with heightened emotional impact. Poetry-loving teens will take this book to heart, along with other verse novels like Stop Pretending, by Sonya Sones; Foreign Exchange, by Mel Glenn; and Karen Hesse's Newbery Award-winning Out of the Dust. (Ages 10 and older) --Patty Campbell --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

More wistful but equally as haunting as Cormier's usual fare, this novel in verse shapes an impressionistic portrait of a lonely, keenly observant boy living in post-WWI Frenchtown (also the setting for the novel Fade). Twelve-year-old Eugene finds his father enigmatic and distant: "My father was a silhouette,/ as if obscured/ by a light shining behind him./ He was closer to me waving from the street/ than nearby in the tenement/ or walking beside me." While hoping for some sign of paternal love or approval, Eugene quietly and contemplatively penetrates the secrets of Frenchtown. He watches as Mrs. Cartin contemplates taking a leap from the third-floor, stands by as a one-time friend becomes an outcast after a bout with St. Vitus' dance and connects his favorite uncle to an unsolved murder case. Every observation implies mystery and hidden dramas; while the short verse chapters seem less plot-driven than Cormier fans may expect, they subtly convey the shadows in Frenchtown and the action those shadows conceal. Feeling "as transparent as rain," Eugene is a ghostly presence here, taking readers back in time and slowly mesmerizing them with his memories of coming of age. Ages 12-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (June 12, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440228549
• ISBN-13: 978-0440228547
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.3 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #696,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry in motion, September 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Frenchtown Summer (Hardcover)

The book was a quick read -- less than half an hour. But one read is not enough -- I had to read it again and again, four times in fact, and I'm satisfied -- for the moment. Some of the lines in the poems are enchanting ("when I knew my name/but did not know who I was." "and knew bliss/in a sliver/of ice), and you must read them again. They flow, fluid, like a river, the Moosock River which ran red and green and purple depending on the dyes the factories were using that day... It's a lovely nostalgic book, showing a time I'll never experience, and yet there are some dark undertones too: Marielle LaMoyne, found strangled by a necktie years before Eugene was born...the near-suicide of one of Eugene's neighbors and the actual suicide of a relative... Naturally, of course, you can't have a Robert Cormier book without them. Tis lovely. Go away if you haven't read the book and buy it, NOW!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written, haunting and lyrical, September 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Frenchtown Summer (Hardcover)

This book is a departure for author Robert Cormier who has always been a favorite of mine because of his tight, twisting plots and his unflinching look at life. But Cormier's first novel written in verse is as marvelous as anything he has ever written and is truly a book to treasure.

I usually end up reading parts of Cormier's novels quickly in order to find out what happens next. But this is a book which makes the reader want to savor every word. He is a master at subtlty and understatement, using one or two words to convey so much meaning.

The relationship between Eugene and his mother, the glimpses into the lives of his neighbors, the secret of tragedy which surrounds his uncle...every one of the elements of this book with intrigue and move the reader.

Some books are great for a quick read and then either sit on a shelf gathering dust or are promptly returned to the library and forgotten. Not Frenchtown Summer. You will want to return to the passages again and again. It would also be a perfect gift for just about anyone and definitely a book to treasure.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Frenchtown Summer, May 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Frenchtown Summer (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was chosin in a book club at my school as the next book to read. I thought when I first saw it that it was small so it would probably be pretty boring, but easy to read. After I had begun to read it I found that it was anything but boring. Many different things occur that are mysterious or hard to understand. After reading the book within a couple of hours I had a couple of questions that lingered in my mind about it, with several different answeres that I could think up. When we were all done my club hada group discussion and answered some of those questions. I reccomend this book just because it is so mysterious yet easy to read. ~4 stars~