Join us in-person or on Zoom for a lively book discussion. We will be reading "Now Is Not the Time To Panic" by Kevin Wilson.

If the Coalfield Panic were to happen today, it would dominate the news cycle for 10 minutes before it got subsumed by another, more sensational story. In middle-of-nowhere Tennessee in 1996, Frankie Budge and her new friend, Zeke, create a poster and plaster it all over town as performance art. Unfortunately, the poster catches people’s imagination for all the wrong reasons, and it stays in the larger public consciousness for longer than Frankie and Zeke ever wanted. The signature slogan is Frankie’s, “The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.” To the two teenage misfits in Coalfield, the writing sounds subversive yet safe. But once the narrative gets out of control, it creates serious and lasting damage, enough to cast a long shadow on Frankie’s adult life. Wilson (Nothing to See Here, 2020) has developed a story that is a precise capture of adolescence and of two vibrant teens whose everyday dilemmas, weaknesses, and triumphs are utterly endearing. --Booklist Sept. 23,2023

You can pick up a copy of the book at the Atlee Branch Library Circulation Desk while supplies last.

For more information or if you have a special physical or communication need, please contact ask@pamunkeylibrary.org or call the Atlee Branch Library at 804-559-0654.