Now Is Not The Time To Panic: A Novel

"A book destined to become a cult classic, if not just a classic, period ... Compelling...Wilson digs deep ... Frankie & Zeke are wholly original characters, their lives painful & true, & while this is a novel you can read in a single sitting, it is best devoured slowly, a treat for the heart & mind."  —  Tod Goldberg,  USA Today

Sixteen-year-old Frankie Budge — aspiring writer, indifferent student, offbeat loner — is determined to make it through yet another sad summer in Coalfield, Tennessee, when she meets Zeke, a talented artist who has just moved into his grandmother’s unhappy house & who is as lonely & awkward as Frankie is. Romantic & creative sparks begin to fly, & when the two jointly make an unsigned poster, shot through with an enigmatic phrase, it becomes unforgettable to anyone who sees it. 

A bold coming-of-age story, written with Kevin Wilson’s trademark wit & blazing prose, Now Is Not The Time To Panic is a nuanced exploration of young love, identity, & the power of art. It’s also about the secrets that haunt us — and, ultimately, what the truth will set free.

"This story is much more likely to break your heart than your funny bone. Wilson is witty, to be sure, & he has a firm grip on the absurdity of domestic life, particularly families & their strange, terrarium-like realms. But if there’s comedy here, it’s steeped in melancholy... plumbs both the intensity of an early creative experience & the strange way such experiences get preserved in the amber of our minds. The result is another tender, moving novel by an author who understands how truly bizarre ordinary life is."  — Ron Charles, The Washington Post