Figuring Out Frances Book

With a light touch, this insightful novel charts a fourth grader's course through the complexities of family and friship. Abby is trying hard to understand the things that puzzle her. One is her friship with Travis Mooney, who seems to be turning into just another obnoxious boy. Another is a mystery: Why does Grandma, who has Alzheimer's disease, sometimes call her Frances? Who is, or was, Frances? Abby is convinced that if she can figure out Frances, she will know something new and important about herself. Along with the surprising and satisfying solution to this mystery comes the discovery that some things can't be figured out-but just as in doing a puzzle, putting all the pieces together is the fun part.

Children's Literature

Abigail is a ten-year-old girl with a best friend named Travis, a boy who ignores her at school. She has a mother who wishes she would dress in pink, and a grandmother living with them who has Alzheimer's and calls her "Frances." This chapter book, told in first person by Abigail, is delightful and one that would have wide appeal for any young girl today. It holds the reader's interest with one progressive plot and several sub-plots, all focusing around three generations of people who are important in Abigail's life. Her teacher assigns each student the task to solve a mystery. Abigail decides to investigate who Frances really is. Along the way she discovers things about herself as well as her grandmother. A bonus of this book is the realistic but compassionate manner in which Alzheimer's disease is presented and experienced from a ten-year-old's perspective. Abigail reflects at the end of the book, "I wondered if you ever really figured anyone out. Even yourself.... It was like doing a puzzle.... Putting all the pieces together was the fun part." Author Gina Willner-Pardo has captured the essence of this puzzle and made it fun along the way!