A review by debs4jc
Be Frank with Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson

4.0

Loved this one - mostly because I fell in love with Frank! He's not the one who tells the story though, that's Alice, who comes into Frank's life when she assigned to assist his mother with her latest book project. Frank's mother just happens to be M.M. "Mimi" Banning - a reclusive author who wrote a highly acclaimed bestselling novel years ago and hasn't published a book since. After years of silence she contacted her publisher - the firm Alice works for - and said she was ready to publish another book. So Alice, who has never traveled outside of New York, is sent off to Mimi's California home thinking she will be helping her to type up her manuscripts. Except Mimi never shows her what's she's working on. Instead she put's Alice in charge of managing Frank. Frank turns out to the the most unusual 9 year old Alice has ever met. He dresses like a 1930's movie star and he's obsessed with old films. He throws a fit if certain rules of his are broken. He hardly ever sleeps. He hints at past family secrets that Alice longs to uncover the truth about. As Alice gets to know this eccentric mother and son and learns how to navigate their world, she learns a lot about her self and her strengths and limitations. But most of all she learns what it means to love and be needed by someone who isn't always easy to love - and that's what really touched me about this book.
Also, I listened to this and Tavia Gilbert, the narrator, did an amazing job of capturing Frank's voice in just right way. Her vocal interpretation of all the characters was so spot on and really helped to bring Frank and this story to life. I'd highly recommend this version!