Book description
Frankie Parsons is twelve going on eighty -- an apparently sensible
boy growing up in New Zealand, he has a drumbeat of worrying questions
steadily gaining volume in his head: Are the smoke alarm batteries
flat? Does the cat, and therefore the rest of the family, have worms?
Will bird flu strike and ruin life as we know it?
Most of the
people in Frankie's life seem gloriously untroubled by worry. Only Ma
takes his catalogue of persistent anxieties seriously, listening
patiently to the questions he brings her at 10 p. m. each night. But
when a new girl arrives at school with relentless, unavoidable
questions of her own, Frankie's carefully controlled world begins to
unravel. Will he be able to face up to the unpalatable, ultimate 10 p.
m. Question; why does Ma never leave the house?
Kate De Goldi grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand. When she wasn't
reading, Kate could be found writing plays to put on with her sisters,
school friends or 42 cousins. Kate De Goldi is now known for her novels,
short fiction and picture books, and has won many prestigious awards for
her work. The 10 p. m. Question won the New Zealand Post Book of the
Year in 2009 and in that same year, was also selected as a White Ravens
Outstanding New International Book for Children and Young Adults. Kate
currently lives in Wellington, New Zealand, where she writes her books
in a walk-in-wardrobe.
