Now Is Not the Time to Panic

“I thought [Zeke] was talking about kissing but realized he was looking at the copier. ‘We could do something weird with this,’ he went on.

‘Weird,’ I said, like it was a magic word, like all I had to do was say it out loud and my world would change.”

Frankie and Zeke find common ground in their shared weirdness—an inability to fit in with social norms. Though Frankie initially considers her weirdness to be a shameful secret she must hide, through Zeke she learns to regard it as a source of pride and a badge of honor. The impact of the art they make is not evident to Frankie at the time. Ironically, the creation of the poster does change Frankie’s world permanently, as its repercussions reverberate into her adult life.

“‘I kind of want to throw it away,’ I said. ‘I think I’d feel awful if my mom ever saw this.’

‘I think maybe art is supposed to make your family uncomfortable,’ [Zeke] offered.

‘Well, I guess I’m not quite an artist yet,’ I said, ‘because I don’t want her to see it.’ I crumpled up the original and the copy and tossed them into the garbage can.”

This quote is significant in retrospect: Frankie fears her mother’s judgment when she attempts to use a photograph of her and Frankie’s father to make art. Later, as the poster spreads throughout Coalfield, she worries about her mother discovering that she is its creator. Unbeknownst to her, Frankie’s mother does determine this but is not alarmed. Contrary to what adult Frankie fears, her mother does not judge Frankie negatively. Similarly, Zeke’s words come to ring true, as the poster ultimately makes many, many people uncomfortable. Interestingly, it does not do so in a way that either of them expects or intends. Likewise, Zeke’s father specifically is angered to learn that Zeke is the poster’s author.