Kevin Wilson is a total weirdo.
Okay, maybe as a person he’s perfectly normal. I really have no idea. Based on the weirdly wonderful books he writes, he seems to have a bolt loose, but in the best possible way.
The first Kevin Wilson book I read was NOTHING TO SEE HERE, about a young woman who works as a nanny for a politically powerful family. The children she must tend to might prove a bit embarrassing if their secret gets out. What makes these kids so strange and worrisome? They sometimes spontaneously combust. They don’t die or anything…that would be upsetting. But they can do some damage, both to property AND to reputation.
I mean, is that a hilarious premise for a book, or what?! So when Wilson’s new novel came out at the end of last year, I knew I had to read it. I didn’t pre-screen the book jacket. I didn’t look for blurbs online. I raced to my library and brought it home.
I am thrilled to report that this book was just as fabulous as NOTHING TO SEE HERE.
It was certainly different. No absurdist elements like flaming children. The humor (though present) was much subtler. But the story pulled me in and didn’t let go. The story follows a pair of awkward teenagers, Frankie Budge and her new-in-town friend Zeke. Frankie has dreams of becoming a writer. Zeke has a talent for drawing. Together, they come up with a strange summer project: create a mysterious, anonymous poster which they will xerox and paste up all over town. “When the posters begin appearing everywhere, 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 is writing a story about the Coalfield Panic of 1996. Might Frances know something about that?”
This tense and vivid coming of age novel will be especially appealing to readers who grew up in the 80s and 90s. But all generations will identify with the teenage awkwardness, the faltering steps into adolescent sexuality, the electrifying feeling of finding a friend who understands your unique weirdness in exactly the way you need to be understood.
NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO PANIC explores the traumas of young love, the formation of our adult selves, and the power of art with humor, honesty, and humanity. Kevin Wilson’s voice and astounding originality have made him one of my favorite American authors publishing. I can’t wait to see what he does next.
