Frannie and Tru, written by Karen Hattrup, reviewed by Bethany Bratney

Summary: Frannie is looking ahead to an unremarkable summer when her mother receives a mysterious phone call and subsequently announces that her cousin, Tru, will be coming to stay with them for the summer. Frannie, who has recently become outcast by her friends and is headed to a new school in the fall, is both thrilled and nervous about Tru’s extended visit. Tru has always been unpredictable and unsettling to her, but he could provide the excitement and thrills that Frannie’s summer needs. When Frannie overhears her parents discussing that Tru has come out as gay, and she realizes that this revelation must be the catalyst that caused his parents to send him away, she instantly takes his side and spends the majority of the summer trying to entertain and delight him, a challenging but worthy goal. But as Frannie and Tru become closer, Frannie notices the wall that Tru has built around his true thoughts and feelings, and vows to crack that facade and find the real Tru. 

Straight Talk for Librarians: It’s difficult to put a finger on what the reader is supposed to get out of Frannie’s story. Frannie’s lack of self-confidence and self-awareness is hard to read at times, and the way she idolizes Tru and his exciting, mature ways (which mostly amount to basic high school rebellion) feels too intense to be accurate. But Tru does manage to expose Frannie to some new people from different backgrounds, who help open Frannie’s eyes to some racial and socio-economic disparities that Frannie has never recognized before. Frannie starts to recognize her own racial privilege as she begins new friendships with Sparrow and her younger brother, Devon. Frannie’s family is also struggling with money, so socio-economic issues amongst teenagers are an appropriate and important component of the story. But Frannie’s coming-of-age is almost painfully subtle, highlighting Frannie’s initial naivety more than her growth. The story is not without its moments or merits, and I appreciate the wide representation of characters from different races, backgrounds and sexual orientations. In the end, this is a perfectly fine book, but it is unlikely to draw major attention.