Kick off! Frannie and Tru Blog Tour

I am crazy excited to host a book tour and now here it is! The day has come— Paper Boulevard's first blog tour! First and foremost, I am so much grateful to the author of Frannie and Tru, Ms. Karen Hattrup for sending me an ARC. Thank you to everyone who responded to join the tour and of course, to the publisher HarperTeen.

"Absorbing, electrifying, and achingly relatable. Frannie and Tru is a book with a pulse.” — Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“[A] character-rich work of literary fiction…Tru is endlessly intriguing, and his evolving relationship with Frannie is wholly believable and emotionally engaging.” — Booklist

“Hattrup’s confrontation with white privilege and Frannie’s misguided assumptions surrounding social class and sexual orientation avoid easy platitudes, creating insights ripe for further exploration.” — Publishers Weekly

Publication: May 31st 2016 by HarperTeen
Synopsis from Goodreads:

When Frannie Little eavesdrops on her parents fighting she discovers that her cousin Truman is gay, and his parents are so upset they are sending him to live with her family for the summer. At least, that’s what she thinks the story is. . . When he arrives, shy Frannie befriends this older boy, who is everything that she’s not–rich, confident, cynical, sophisticated. Together, they embark on a magical summer marked by slowly unraveling secrets.

Rating:
Source: Author · I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content.

From the moment that I saw Frannie and Tru on Goodreads and read its synopsis, I knew then that I would love this book. My instincts where never wrong once I tell myself that I would love a book though I have not read it, just like on Red Queen and The One Thing.

Frannie and Tru was surprising. Surprising that I never thought that the story has some twists. Aside from what its synopsis tells, it’s not that the only mysterious were the characters but the book itself. It’s like a secret diary. Frannie and Tru was like poetry to me. It’s never intimidating. I like it or even love it that I could not understand. Imagine yourself seeing your reflection in water and just be lost at it. That feeling. I love it. I love Frannie and Tru.

Karen Hattrup somehow dug into issues of race and sexuality. These issues are presented by the people around Frannie. She was the innocent of these things.  She was enlightened of them when her cousin Tru was with her family during summer. Throughout, Frannie was thinking that Tru was sent to stay with them because he was gay and the coming out to his parents turned out bad. She expected Tru would be the sunshine of her expected cloudy summer then. Well, as I said that it has twists. . . well. Anyway, through Tru, she had black friends, which she never had a malice on their race, but as days went, she slowly knew that people are awkward to black people. You know, as what the movies and books say with black people. Though the book did not significantly brighten what it said on its back cover about race, class and sexuality, I still loved it. It has a connection to me and I think that was what’s more important.

Compelling and endearing, Frannie and Tru is a radically distinctive read. It would quench your thirsty summer to-be read list.

Karen Hattrup grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. with her parents and brother, devouring books from an early age. At Loyola University Maryland, she studied journalism and spent a semester abroad in Thailand. She went on to become a newspaper reporter, first in Maryland and then in Indiana, writing features and serving as an award-winning arts critic. Karen later studied nonfiction writing at the Johns Hopkins University. She lives in Baltimore City with her husband, daughter, and son.

Follow her on

Twitter / Goodreads / Website

You can purchase Frannie and Tru at
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Book Depository and Local Bookseller. 

I encourage everyone to hop on to the rest of the blogs during the tour! It sure is fun like the summer of Frannie and Tru. :)