It's been awhile since I've read a fictional book by a New Zealander. This was a lovely way to restart. Kate deGoldi who aside from being an amazing writer and previous winner of many awards has created a completely loveable character who you sort of just want to adopt when the book is over. The main character; Frankie Parsons is a 12 year old kiwi boy who's slightly abnormal but wonderfully normal life is explored in these chapters. It covers many bases: friendship, mental illness, prostitution, anxiety, family and many others and does it far better than Shortland Street does which isn't saying much considering it's such a wonderful book. The characters seem completely real, there is definite suspense and things that are hidden from the reader at first and with their discovery, Frankie becomes more and more amazing.
The development of Frankie is not the only amazing part but also his friendship with Gigs and following on with Sydney, the girl who turns his life around (and not necessarily romantically). The relationship he has with his mother is also valued in the book with his nightly '10 pm questions" which lend themselves to the title.
I actually read a few reviews of this book before starting it, some which claimed the story needed a speed-along as it didn't contain enough interest. I couldn't disagree more. The plots kept me guessing all the way through, the beautiful metaphors deGoldi uses kept me amazed and I realise this book is meant for school-aged children but I didn't read anything remotely this developed when I was at school (I wish I had).
Highly recommend it, I think it's simply amazing.
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