Teen Tuesday and Arc Review: Frankly in Love by David Yoon

Image: Penguin

Frankly in Love by David Yoon. 408 p.G.p. Putnam's Sons/ Penguin Young Readers Group, September 10, 2019. 9781984812209. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)

Teen Tuesday features another fantastic book whose audience is older teens. Frankly in Love is David Yoon's debut novel and due out on September 10. Frank Li was born and raised in Southern California and is about to begin his senior year of high school. He was given a Korean name,  Sung-Min, which no one ever uses, not even his parents. His parents own "the store" in a mostly Black and Hispanic neighborhood. They work 365 days a year and have all Frank and his older sister, Hannah's lives. They do this so that their children will attend a prestigious college. Hannah went to Harvard and then went to law school, where she met the love of her life. The only problem was that Miles wasn't Korean and now Hannah is disowned. When nerdy Frank falls in love with Brit Means, a classmate from calculus class, he knows he can't bring her home. She's not Korean either. Joy, a family friend, is also hiding her relationship with a boy who is not Korean. The two concoct a plan - they will pretend date each other without either their parents or significant others knowing. Yeah.


I fell in love with the voice on page one. This first-person novel is wry, whip-smart, hilarious, and poignant. The diverse cast of characters brim with life. Issues of family, identity, culture, classism, racism, micro-aggressions, and duty are hashed out intelligently, offering no easy answers. 

You will laugh, sometimes out loud and hysterically. You will cry as well. This brilliant book is about high school seniors doing what high school seniors do - stressing about SATs and college apps, dating, crushing, cursing, and drinking or choosing not to drink. Frankly in Love is more suitable for former TMS students who have begun their own high school-to-college journey. 

The book has been heavily hyped and the hype is real. I can pick up my arc and open it anywhere and just fall back into Frank's world with ease and stay awhile. This is also one for the "reread with my ears" list. Frankly in Love leads my "Favorites of 2019" list and I expect it to receive tons of awards come awards season - Morris Award, Printz Award, National Book Award... Additionally, I believe it has already been optioned for film. And, that cover! Doesn't that cover just pop?