Now Is Not the Time to Panic: From the NYT Bestselling Author of Nothing to See Here
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Named a Best Book of the Year by: Time * Kirkus Reviews * USA Today * Entertainment Weekly * Garden & Gun * Vox * Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Most Anticipated Book of Fall from: Associated Press * Atlanta Journal-Constitution * BookPage * Book Riot * The Boston Globe * Entertainment Weekly * Esquire * Garden & Gun * LitHub * St. Louis Post-Dispatch * Sunset Magazine * Time * Town & Country * The Millions * USA Today * Vogue * Vulture * The Week
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.
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 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.
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Community Reviews
This was such a nostalgic read for me; I immediately connected with and was drawn into this story.
In the mid 90s a couple of teenagers seemingly invisible to the world create a piece of art that sends their town into a panic.
Throughout their lives they have remained anonymous but twenty years after the events of '96 a reporter comes knocking, threatening to unravel the mystery behind the chaos.
A fast listen with great narration, be sure to read or listen to the author's note at the end to learn how this story was inspired and its importantance.
This was my first Kevin Wilson read. I have had Nothing to See Here on my TBR for a while and now I will be moving it to the top of my list.
Thank you to the Libro.fm Librarian ALC program, HarperAudio, and the author for this complimentary Audiobook Listening Copy.
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