Frenchtown Summer

Frenchtown Summer. Robert Cormier. New York: Delacoarte Press, 1999. 113pg.
This novel is told in Frenchtown, Massachusetts in the 1930’s. This novel is based on a young boy named Eugene whose twelfth summer is filled with new experiences. He falls in love with a nun named Sister Angelica, gets a job searching for the cannons of Frenchtown, later finds the secrets of the cannons, sees his first orange airplane, and gets his first pair of glasses. Eugene also experiences a loss of his favorite uncle who suddenly dies, and encounters difficulties with his quiet father whom Eugene says is a silhouettes of door shadows. Though Eugene is a typical reader in school, he isn’t the most popular in the schoolyard, unlike his brother Raymond who’s very athletic in school. Eugene usually has to go to his boring games. This summer he watches Mrs. Cartin take a leap on the third floor, stands by, as one of his good time friends becomes one of the St. Vitus’ dancers. This story is told in lyrical free verse which means is told in poem form.
My opinion about this short book is that it needs a lot more action and needs to explain more about Eugene’s summer in Frenchtown. What made this book unique were the different poems throughout the book and the way they were formed. This book is more on the level of young adults usually the grade difference of 7^th – 12^th. If I were to rank this book, I would have to say a six because I misunderstood positioning of the words.
Reviewed by: Chasity