Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia

May 15, 2013
After one life-changing night with her secret crush Andy Cooper, Frenchie Garcia, a cigarette-smoking artist who quotes Dickinson and hangs out in a cemetery, is haunted. Frenchie is in the limbo of what-comes-next. She's finished high school but has been rejected by art school. She is sullen and anxious and can't seem to get her life moving. Gradually, what happened that night with Andy and its lingering impact on Frenchie are revealed. It was the same night that Andy ended his own life. No one even knows that she liked Andy, let alone about the time they spent together, so Frenchie keeps her guilt and confusion to herself. When her internal rage finally boils over, she embarks upon an all-night trek with Colin, a boy she barely knows, re-creating every step of her spontaneous adventure with Andy and desperately searching for whatever she must have missed. Sanchez's expertly crafted narrative moves seamlessly between "that night" and now, pulling readers into Frenchie's anger and pain without straying into cliches of teen angst. Frenchie's struggle to identify and process her own emotions rings out as authentic and honest. There are no easy answers for Frenchie Garcia as she attempts to recover from the tragedy of suicide. An exceptionally well-written journey to make sense of the senseless. (Fiction. 14 & up)

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-Seventeen-year-old Frenchie is surprised when Andy Cooper asks her out-she has had a crush on him for years, but he barely acknowledges her. On top of that, it is a strange date as they trek to various places that seem to be important to him. When Frenchie finds out the next morning that he has committed suicide, she wonders why he chose to spend his last night alive with her. A bit of a loner, Frenchie discovers the grave of Emily Dickinson and pretends that the woman is the famous poet and makes her her best friend and confidante. After all, the grave is just down the street from where Frenchie lives in Orlando, Florida, convenient for get-togethers and gab fests. Grieving over Andy's death, Frenchie must discover why he thought he had to kill himself. She enlists Colin, a boy she met at a club, to help her retrace their steps on Andy's last night. Despite its dark topic and the depths of Frenchie's sorrow, there is an undercurrent of humor in her observations and her conversations with Em, which keeps the novel from becoming overwhelmingly a book about death and grief. There are also the realistic aspects of teen angst as Frenchie wonders why Joel, her best friend for almost forever, has a new girlfriend, someone Frenchie does not like at all. This is a fast, well-written read with a satisfactory though not necessarily happy ending and a protagonist to remember-a survivor and person of action. A solid choice that is accessible even for reluctant readers.-Janet Hilbun, Texas Women's University, Denton, TX

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2014
Frenchie spends "one cool night" with her crush, Andy. They part ways, and it's the last time she sees him alive. Months later, in an attempt to find meaning in his suicide, Frenchie retraces the steps of the last night they spent together. Sanchez deftly constructs a dreamy narrative that captures the lingering repercussions of suicide.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 1, 2013
Ditched by her best friend Joel and his new girlfriend, Frenchie spends "one cool night" with her crush, Andy Cooper, whom she barely knows. After a handful of weird destinations and deep conversations, they part ways in a cemetery, and it's the last time she sees Andy alive. In the weeks following his suicide, Frenchie withdraws, struggling with grief, confusion, guilt, and the weight of keeping the night they spent together a secret -- not to mention the fact that high school is over, she didn't get into art school, and her best friend is gradually leaving her behind. She often speaks to the grave of Emily Dickinson (she knows it's not the actual literary figure, but rather the grave of a stranger with the same name) as a means of working through emotional turmoil, but a dead imaginary confidant is no substitute for living, breathing companionship. The trend of the struggling teenager communing with a quirky delusion may well be on its way to stale -- but in this case this morbid plot device works perfectly as a coping mechanism. Trying to find meaning in a senseless tragedy, Frenchie attempts to re-create her spontaneous night with Andy. With Colin (a budding love interest) in tow, she traces her steps back through that surreal evening, looking for answers, finding nothing but haunting memories. Sanchez deftly maneuvers between real time and Frenchie's flashbacks, constructing a dreamy narrative that accurately captures the lingering repercussions of suicide. shara l. hardeson

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)