Enter the world of Eugene, who, like many of the characters about whom author Robert Cormier writes, resides in the quiet recesses of Frenchtown. It's a town like most others in Massachusetts, populated by hard-working career men and filled with an assortment of secrets that simmer just below the surface. Take a walk or two with young Eugene along his paper route as he observes the people around him in the habitats of their regular lives; nothing too fancy or unusual, for the most part, just seemingly ordinary people going about their lives as one would expect. But Robert Cormier, through the eyes of Eugene, helps us to focus in more closely on these ostensibly pedestrian experiences. No decision made by one person in Frenchtown is without its ripple effect impact on others, particularly in the case where families are concerned. Some decisions are of little ultimate import, while others can change the face of a family forever, in ways both expected and unexpected. Yet below it all, the quiet serenity of Frenchtown is never really disturbed. What's at stake most in Frenchtown Summer is the underlying question that Eugene has for his parents, the one that he burns to know the answer to but never actually asks out loud: Do you love me? Individually, each in their own personal non-verbal way, Eugene's parents have clearly answered this question for their son by the end of the book. Infused with the sweeping, beautiful writing of Robert Cormier, Frenchtown Summer is a foray into the realm of storytelling in verse that raises many questions without giving the simple satisfaction of a concrete response to any of them. That's how the mind of Robert Cormier usually seems to work, though, providing multi-layered problems of love and ethos and pushing the readers to come up with the right answer on their own. Therein lies the true intelligent design of Frenchtown Summer. I would most likely give two and a half stars to this book.
Frenchtown SummerFrenchtown summer a realistic fiction book by Robert Cormier felt like a tour through the gloomy section of town known as Frenchtown. Eugene is a boy who lives with his joyous mom and his mysterious and silent father who he wants only to connect to but his father's persona gets in the way of their father son relationship so then he is forced to go through the significant summer with no plans of trying to connect with his dad. This is a book I really enjoyed.One thing I liked about this book is the setting the setting of Frenchtown is very strange kids dive in a river running in many colors because of dye poured in by Frenchtowns many hair shops. And the clown sitting on the street corner who mysteriously disappears and comes back years later. I also thought the characters had unique personalities like the good cop of Frenchtown who has the hots for a married lady, the multiple bullies walking through Frenchtown looking for new victims and Eugene's sad uncle Med you loathes for an unknown lost love.Frenchtown summer is a great book most everyone generally would enjoy if they are ok with the plot mysteries. And the setting is mysterious as I didn't know if they were in America,Canada or France. Overall I give this book four out of five stars since it is such a short read I recommend you read this as a time killer.
What do You think about Frenchtown Summer (2009)?
Young Eugene reminisces on the summer of '38 when he really began wondering about life, and the meaning of it. The verses in this poem paint vivid images of the places and people he encounters on his daily paper route.I enjoyed this novel in verse. I felt like I could really relate to Cormier's poetic style. The poetry just made sense, and flowed very nicely. The story was interesting, but the psychology behind the characters is what makes this book truly wonderful to read. The family dynamics within the story present some good opportunities for analysis and discussion.
—Rob
Summary: Frenchtown Summer is a semi autobiographical book by Robert Cormier the book is written in free verse and centers on Eugene as he delivers papers on his paper route around his hometown. He notices things that seem to go unnoticed by others. He wonders whether his father who is withdrawn loves him. In the end Eugene finds a plane hidden in a shed he tells his friends who don’t believe him. When they go back to see it the plane is gone. Later in front of his friends Eugene’s fathers says to his mother that he thought he saw an airplane in a nearby shed. This backed up Eugene and showed that his father did care about him. I liked this book it as a bit different from the style that I normally read but it was still pretty good. I liked the imagery that Cormier provided. Also the flow of the verse was nice and made it easy to read. I liked the “everydayness” style of this book. Id recommend it for twelve and up
—Rachel
This is the story of summer in frenchtown. The comb factory is the center of life, and all the members of town work there. The story is told in poetry, so it is a different sort of read, but I found myself enjoying it nonetheless. There is not really a coherent plot to this novel, it is more like a collection of impressions throughout the summer. Since it is told through poetry the narrator can tell the sensory perceptions of his childhood summer, and even the terrible events that are portrayed in some of the chapters are softened.My diagnosis of the book is the same as my diagnosis of the author... interesting but odd. There are always some disturbing scenes in his novels, but they are very well told stories. Robert Cormier, as always, makes you think.
—Lindsey
