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Footer Davis Probably Is Crazy
Footer Davis is on the case when two kids go missing after a fire in this humorously honest novel that is full of Southern style.
"Bless your heart" is a saying in the South that sounds nice but really isn't. It means, "You're beyond help." That's what folks say about fifth grader Footer Davis's mom, who "ain't right" because of her bipolar disorder. She just shot a snake in Footer's yard with an elephant gun, and now she's been shipped off to a mental hospital, and Footer is missing her fiercely yet again.
"Bless their hearts" is also what folks say about Cissy and Doc Abrams, two kids who went missing after a house fire. Footer wants to be a journalist and her friend Peavine wants to be a detective, so the two decide to help with the mystery of the missing kids. But when visiting the crime scene makes Footer begin to have "episodes" of her own, she wonders if maybe she's getting sick like her mom, and that's a mystery that she's not at all sure she wants to solve.
"Bless your heart" is a saying in the South that sounds nice but really isn't. It means, "You're beyond help." That's what folks say about fifth grader Footer Davis's mom, who "ain't right" because of her bipolar disorder. She just shot a snake in Footer's yard with an elephant gun, and now she's been shipped off to a mental hospital, and Footer is missing her fiercely yet again.
"Bless their hearts" is also what folks say about Cissy and Doc Abrams, two kids who went missing after a house fire. Footer wants to be a journalist and her friend Peavine wants to be a detective, so the two decide to help with the mystery of the missing kids. But when visiting the crime scene makes Footer begin to have "episodes" of her own, she wonders if maybe she's getting sick like her mom, and that's a mystery that she's not at all sure she wants to solve.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2015
16 people are currently reading
771 people want to read
About the author
Susan Vaught
30 books204 followersWebsite: http://susanvaught.com
astrology sign: Libra
favorite book: Harry Potter (all of them) and His Dark Materials
(all of those, too)
favorite song:I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab for Cutie
current pet total:12 if you don't count the chickens, peafowl,
turkeys, ducks, geese, pigeons, or guineas.
names of my schools:
Vanderbilt University (MS, Ph.D.)
University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) (BA)
Germantown High School (Germantown, TN 9th-12th)
Germantown Middle School (Germantown, TN 8th)
Can't Remember, but the mascot was a purple dragon (Sandy Springs/Atlanta Georgia, 7th)
Green Street Elementary (Tupelo, MS 6th) Frances Patterson was a very cool teacher there. I write because of her.
Pierce Street Elementary (Tupelo, MS 3rd-5th)
Can't Remember, but it was big (Corinth, MS, 2nd)
Oxford Elementary (Oxford, MS, K-1st)
University of Mississippi (Day Care, Playschool)
astrology sign: Libra
favorite book: Harry Potter (all of them) and His Dark Materials
(all of those, too)
favorite song:I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab for Cutie
current pet total:12 if you don't count the chickens, peafowl,
turkeys, ducks, geese, pigeons, or guineas.
names of my schools:
Vanderbilt University (MS, Ph.D.)
University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) (BA)
Germantown High School (Germantown, TN 9th-12th)
Germantown Middle School (Germantown, TN 8th)
Can't Remember, but the mascot was a purple dragon (Sandy Springs/Atlanta Georgia, 7th)
Green Street Elementary (Tupelo, MS 6th) Frances Patterson was a very cool teacher there. I write because of her.
Pierce Street Elementary (Tupelo, MS 3rd-5th)
Can't Remember, but it was big (Corinth, MS, 2nd)
Oxford Elementary (Oxford, MS, K-1st)
University of Mississippi (Day Care, Playschool)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
March 8, 2016
Dealing with a mother who has bipolar disorder isn't always easy for Fontana "Footer" Davis, 11, especially when she goes off her meds and ends up in a mental hospital. Which is exactly what happens after she kills a copperhead with a big-game hunting gun. To help her cope, Footer enlists her best friend, Peavine Jones, and his younger sister Angel, to carry out an investigation into the fire that burned a neighboring farm to the ground, who shot and killed Mr. Abrams, the farmer, and what happened to his two grandchildren, Cissy, 12, and Doc, 6, who have been missing ever since.
There seems to be two things going on in this novel - one is Footer's coping with her mother's bipolar disorder which results in her hospitalization whenever she goes off her medication and Footer's fears about her own mental health. the other is the investigation by Footer and her friends, Peavine and Angel, into the death of unfriendly neighbor Mr. Abrams, the fire that totally destroyed his house and his missing grandchildren Cissy and Doc.
To complicate matters, Footer is beginning to have olfactory hallucinations. At first, she only smells the smoke of the Abrams fire, but as they begin to get stronger and she can smell fire and blood as well. But when Footer begins to see things that happened at the Abrams farm the night of the fire, she isn't sure if she is crazy and having visual hallucinations, or if her visions could possibly be a flashback, in which case, she and Peavine really needed to solve the mystery surrounding the Abrams farm. Especially since her own mother is part of the vision or was she really there and why?
To make matter even more complicated, Footer seems to have taken up sleep eating - raiding the refrigerator and pantry without even remembering it. But without gaining any weight considering the volume of food her seems to be consuming.
If all these disparate things tie together, will all of Footer's worst fears turn out to be true?
Footer Davis is Probably Crazy is mainly told in the first person by Footer, with the inclusion of school assignments that she relates to what is happening in her life, and notebook entries of interviews with various people - some suspects, most not - conducted by Footer, Peavine and even Angel. I really liked the mystery part of the story since it seems to me to be the kind of thing an 11 year old could really get into.
The story is well written, well plotted, but I did have a few problems with the novel...
I felt that, with the exception of Footer, most of the characters didn't really have much depth. They were there only to as props for Footer's story, even Peavine, who had more depth then most of the others, including Footer's mom. Same with Footer's concerned teacher, Ms. Malone, and the social worker from the Department of Child Services, Stephanie Bridges.
I also wondered why it was necessary for Peavine to have cerebral palsy since it didn't really figure into the story. In fact, it's actually only mentioned once as the explanation for how Fontana became Footer.
And I wondered by Footer's mom was bipolar. Was it to get rid of her? Or could it be a plausible explanation for Footer's hallucinations and questioning her own sanity in light of some of the events surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the Abrams children, in which case it would just be a plot device.
And yet, oddly enough, despite these criticisms, I very much enjoyed reading Footer Davis is Probably Crazy and would recommend it to middle graders looking for a contemporary mystery.
This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
There seems to be two things going on in this novel - one is Footer's coping with her mother's bipolar disorder which results in her hospitalization whenever she goes off her medication and Footer's fears about her own mental health. the other is the investigation by Footer and her friends, Peavine and Angel, into the death of unfriendly neighbor Mr. Abrams, the fire that totally destroyed his house and his missing grandchildren Cissy and Doc.
To complicate matters, Footer is beginning to have olfactory hallucinations. At first, she only smells the smoke of the Abrams fire, but as they begin to get stronger and she can smell fire and blood as well. But when Footer begins to see things that happened at the Abrams farm the night of the fire, she isn't sure if she is crazy and having visual hallucinations, or if her visions could possibly be a flashback, in which case, she and Peavine really needed to solve the mystery surrounding the Abrams farm. Especially since her own mother is part of the vision or was she really there and why?
To make matter even more complicated, Footer seems to have taken up sleep eating - raiding the refrigerator and pantry without even remembering it. But without gaining any weight considering the volume of food her seems to be consuming.
If all these disparate things tie together, will all of Footer's worst fears turn out to be true?
Footer Davis is Probably Crazy is mainly told in the first person by Footer, with the inclusion of school assignments that she relates to what is happening in her life, and notebook entries of interviews with various people - some suspects, most not - conducted by Footer, Peavine and even Angel. I really liked the mystery part of the story since it seems to me to be the kind of thing an 11 year old could really get into.
The story is well written, well plotted, but I did have a few problems with the novel...
I felt that, with the exception of Footer, most of the characters didn't really have much depth. They were there only to as props for Footer's story, even Peavine, who had more depth then most of the others, including Footer's mom. Same with Footer's concerned teacher, Ms. Malone, and the social worker from the Department of Child Services, Stephanie Bridges.
I also wondered why it was necessary for Peavine to have cerebral palsy since it didn't really figure into the story. In fact, it's actually only mentioned once as the explanation for how Fontana became Footer.
And I wondered by Footer's mom was bipolar. Was it to get rid of her? Or could it be a plausible explanation for Footer's hallucinations and questioning her own sanity in light of some of the events surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the Abrams children, in which case it would just be a plot device.
And yet, oddly enough, despite these criticisms, I very much enjoyed reading Footer Davis is Probably Crazy and would recommend it to middle graders looking for a contemporary mystery.
This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
Read
January 21, 2015I enjoyed this book, but maybe I'm just on a kick of middle grade books addressing mental illness and there are others that I like better. I keep comparing it to Karen Harrington's Sure Signs of Crazy: both feature a precocious, 12-year-old girl who fears she is crazy because her mother is crazy.
I still liked Sure Signs more--something about Sarah Nelson spoke to me the way Footer didn't--perhaps Sarah's love of words? Both books are literary middle grade with dark tones. In Sure Signs, Sarah lives in the shadow of scandal: her mother is in a mental institution for drowning her baby brother and almost Sarah herself. In Footer Davis, a horrible fire at a nearby farm kills a man and possibly his two grandchildren, and in Footer and her friend Peavine's unofficial investigation, Footer's bipolar mom was definitely there.
But Footer Davis is more of a mystery than a coming-of-age novel. Was Footer's mom involved? How? What happened to Cissy and Doc Abrams, really, if their bodies were never recovered in the fire? Why does the peanut butter keep disappearing?
It's still heady stuff, and I loved the "detective" format and Peavine's transcripts of conversations. But most of all I enjoyed Footer's interaction of Stephanie, the social worker, which was of complete mistrust and then grudging respect and acceptance. ("Is your hair really blond?" - best line ever.)
I still liked Sure Signs more--something about Sarah Nelson spoke to me the way Footer didn't--perhaps Sarah's love of words? Both books are literary middle grade with dark tones. In Sure Signs, Sarah lives in the shadow of scandal: her mother is in a mental institution for drowning her baby brother and almost Sarah herself. In Footer Davis, a horrible fire at a nearby farm kills a man and possibly his two grandchildren, and in Footer and her friend Peavine's unofficial investigation, Footer's bipolar mom was definitely there.
But Footer Davis is more of a mystery than a coming-of-age novel. Was Footer's mom involved? How? What happened to Cissy and Doc Abrams, really, if their bodies were never recovered in the fire? Why does the peanut butter keep disappearing?
It's still heady stuff, and I loved the "detective" format and Peavine's transcripts of conversations. But most of all I enjoyed Footer's interaction of Stephanie, the social worker, which was of complete mistrust and then grudging respect and acceptance. ("Is your hair really blond?" - best line ever.)
March 23, 2015
This book. What am I going to do with this book?
I'd love to know who was in charge of the cover art and branding for this one, because, what on Earth were they thinking? This looks like a Wimpy Kid read-alike on the outside. I assure you, it is not.
Footer and her best friend, Peavine, decide to investigate the murder and arson that took place on a property near their neighborhood, right around the same time that Footer's mother is carted off to the mental hospital to ride out a major bipolar episode. What starts off as playing at detective work soon turns serious, as Footer begins having horrific flashbacks to the night of the incident--flashbacks that suggest that not only was she a witness to what happened, but that her mother may have been responsible.
Issue: Footer is 11. ELEVEN! This is a book that describes
Issue: The cover art is going to appeal to kids who are 8-10.
Despite the young age of the characters and the design, I'm really hoping that this one will appeal to my middle-grade readers, because it's an excellent page-turner for 12-14 year olds.
I'd love to know who was in charge of the cover art and branding for this one, because, what on Earth were they thinking? This looks like a Wimpy Kid read-alike on the outside. I assure you, it is not.
Footer and her best friend, Peavine, decide to investigate the murder and arson that took place on a property near their neighborhood, right around the same time that Footer's mother is carted off to the mental hospital to ride out a major bipolar episode. What starts off as playing at detective work soon turns serious, as Footer begins having horrific flashbacks to the night of the incident--flashbacks that suggest that not only was she a witness to what happened, but that her mother may have been responsible.
Issue: Footer is 11. ELEVEN! This is a book that describes
Issue: The cover art is going to appeal to kids who are 8-10.
Despite the young age of the characters and the design, I'm really hoping that this one will appeal to my middle-grade readers, because it's an excellent page-turner for 12-14 year olds.
April 4, 2020
Footer Davis Probably is Crazy is a mystery book about a girl named Footer who has a mom with bipolar disorder. The stress of her mom being in and out of the hospital, judgement from neighbors, and being interrogated by social workers has led her to exert her energy elsewhere: solving the mystery of the Abram's Farm fire. This is a WOW book for me because it addresses the hardships of children who have parents with bipolar disorder while not painting the mother as the "bad guy", instead it emphasizes the importance of compassion and patience. Footer constantly battles the stereotypes about her mother and people calling her "crazy" and "dangerous", she even gives in to this for a little, but her resiliency and detective skills/reasoning leads her to discover that her mom is actually a hero. I love how at the end of the book she uses this to inform people of how the media portrays people with mental illness as dangerous, which is false, because only 4 percent of violent crimes are committed by people with mental illness.
I would use this book in fifth grade to teach about the importance of distinguishing facts from opinions. It is importance evaluate evidence fairly and not let stereotypes affect your interpretation. This could be tied into an ELA lesson by comparing news stories that may or may not be biased and contain stereotypes. I could also tie this book into a Social Studies lesson because a fifth grade standard focuses on political freedom and equal rights. Political freedom includes the right to free speech, but could stereotypes about people with mental illness affect how they are receiving equal rights?
I would use this book in fifth grade to teach about the importance of distinguishing facts from opinions. It is importance evaluate evidence fairly and not let stereotypes affect your interpretation. This could be tied into an ELA lesson by comparing news stories that may or may not be biased and contain stereotypes. I could also tie this book into a Social Studies lesson because a fifth grade standard focuses on political freedom and equal rights. Political freedom includes the right to free speech, but could stereotypes about people with mental illness affect how they are receiving equal rights?
May 18, 2019
Fun story, interesting mystery, engaging characters. Great combination!
The book has a light feel, but addresses some series issues. Some of it may be scary for a kid, including the fear that your parent was involved in a fire and/or accidental death. Plus the fear that you may be going crazy. What does crazy mean? Hard to answer. Some interesting thoughts are in the book, and I was glad that after the end of the book the author included nonfiction books and websites where you can go for more information.
I received a copy of this book for free through the Goodreads First Reads program. Thank you!
The book has a light feel, but addresses some series issues. Some of it may be scary for a kid, including the fear that your parent was involved in a fire and/or accidental death. Plus the fear that you may be going crazy. What does crazy mean? Hard to answer. Some interesting thoughts are in the book, and I was glad that after the end of the book the author included nonfiction books and websites where you can go for more information.
I received a copy of this book for free through the Goodreads First Reads program. Thank you!
December 10, 2015
This book deals with mental illness and the impact it has on children. It pushes in a lot of other issues too and also has a mystery. It is not really my taste as far as writing style is concerned and I was a little skeptical of the romantic parts.
February 10, 2015
I loved this book and I can sympathize with the main character and her situation.
March 16, 2016
This book is a great mystery, and also deals with some tough issues such as a parent with mental illness. I want to know more about Footer and her escapades.
June 23, 2022
Gimana rasanya punya ibu seorang bipolar?
Footer tahu Mom berbeda. Mom yang penyayang, sekaligus berbahaya saat emosinya sedang tidak stabil. Seperti hari itu saat Mom tiba-tiba terlalu marah dan menembak seekor ular ditaman. Terjadi keributan kecil yg membuat Mom harus pergi ke rumah sakit dan menjalani terapi demi menstabilkan emosinya.
Tapi ada yang lebih penting. Rumah tetangganya, The Abrams, beberapa waktu lalu terbakar tanpa diketahui sebabnya. Dan Footer entah mengapa merasa Mom terlibat.
Karena itulah sepulang sekolah, Footer bersama 2 sahabatnya kerap menyelidiki kasus ini. Saya cukup terkesan dengan cara Footer mengumpulkan informasi demi mencari bukti. Ada diagram, wawancara, hingga ilustrasi yang menambah nilai dari buku ini. Meski hanya dari kaca mata anak belasan tahun, tak ada yg benar-benar sepele dalam proses penyelidikannya.
Saya jadi turut mencari siapa pelaku pembakaran tersebut. Apa benar Mom? Apa motifnya? Rasa empati saya ikut teraduk-aduk saat beberapa kali Footer merasa dirinya perlahan-lahan menjadi gila. Apalagi interaksi Footer dgn bbrapa org dewasa yg seolah menganggapnya berpenyakit liar seperti ibunya, membuat Footer semakin down.
Ah kisah Footer ini menyadarkan saya pentingnya mental health isu. Saya mengerti ketakutan Footer jikalau ia mungkin mewarisi penyakit bipolar ibunya. Saya paham sulitnya jadi Dad yg harus bersikap adil dan siaga setiap saat demi anak dan istrinya. Juga alasan Mom merahasiakan semua hal itu dari keluarganya.
Terlepas dari apapun alasan Footer, ia sejujurnya hanya ingin meyakinkan diri sendiri bahwa Mom tidaklah bersalah. Mom tidaklah berbahaya dan tidak ada bedanya dengan ibu lainnya diluar sana.
Footer tahu Mom berbeda. Mom yang penyayang, sekaligus berbahaya saat emosinya sedang tidak stabil. Seperti hari itu saat Mom tiba-tiba terlalu marah dan menembak seekor ular ditaman. Terjadi keributan kecil yg membuat Mom harus pergi ke rumah sakit dan menjalani terapi demi menstabilkan emosinya.
Tapi ada yang lebih penting. Rumah tetangganya, The Abrams, beberapa waktu lalu terbakar tanpa diketahui sebabnya. Dan Footer entah mengapa merasa Mom terlibat.
Karena itulah sepulang sekolah, Footer bersama 2 sahabatnya kerap menyelidiki kasus ini. Saya cukup terkesan dengan cara Footer mengumpulkan informasi demi mencari bukti. Ada diagram, wawancara, hingga ilustrasi yang menambah nilai dari buku ini. Meski hanya dari kaca mata anak belasan tahun, tak ada yg benar-benar sepele dalam proses penyelidikannya.
Saya jadi turut mencari siapa pelaku pembakaran tersebut. Apa benar Mom? Apa motifnya? Rasa empati saya ikut teraduk-aduk saat beberapa kali Footer merasa dirinya perlahan-lahan menjadi gila. Apalagi interaksi Footer dgn bbrapa org dewasa yg seolah menganggapnya berpenyakit liar seperti ibunya, membuat Footer semakin down.
Ah kisah Footer ini menyadarkan saya pentingnya mental health isu. Saya mengerti ketakutan Footer jikalau ia mungkin mewarisi penyakit bipolar ibunya. Saya paham sulitnya jadi Dad yg harus bersikap adil dan siaga setiap saat demi anak dan istrinya. Juga alasan Mom merahasiakan semua hal itu dari keluarganya.
Terlepas dari apapun alasan Footer, ia sejujurnya hanya ingin meyakinkan diri sendiri bahwa Mom tidaklah bersalah. Mom tidaklah berbahaya dan tidak ada bedanya dengan ibu lainnya diluar sana.
January 3, 2018
This book is so important.
Footer has grown up with a mom who's bipolar, who periodically spends some time in the mental hospital. This time, though, it's not just an occasion where Mom isn't there. Footer thinks she's going crazy herself, too, and is trying to figure out a neighborhood mystery in the process—one that she may, or may not, have witnessed.
Mentally ill characters are rarely written in a non-criminal or sympathetic light. And what really stands out is the way Footer reacts to it, and how she begins to understand it. While she's trying to figure out the mystery, she wonders if she's going crazy. She doesn't tell anyone her deepest fears, because she doesn't think they'll believe her. She starts to think she's turning out like her mom, who people tend to distrust because of her illness.
Footer is a lighthearted, loveable character, but there's an underlying sadness to her story. How children witness the way adults react to certain things, and then try to change based on what they think adults want to hear. How they'll hide things that are "wrong." And sometimes, the adults do dismiss her fears. That, perhaps, is the worst part.
Footer's story needs to be told. It has to be out there so children know they're not "wrong" for feelings certain things, and their feelings are just as valid as the adults who care for them.
Thank you for this story.
Footer has grown up with a mom who's bipolar, who periodically spends some time in the mental hospital. This time, though, it's not just an occasion where Mom isn't there. Footer thinks she's going crazy herself, too, and is trying to figure out a neighborhood mystery in the process—one that she may, or may not, have witnessed.
Mentally ill characters are rarely written in a non-criminal or sympathetic light. And what really stands out is the way Footer reacts to it, and how she begins to understand it. While she's trying to figure out the mystery, she wonders if she's going crazy. She doesn't tell anyone her deepest fears, because she doesn't think they'll believe her. She starts to think she's turning out like her mom, who people tend to distrust because of her illness.
Footer is a lighthearted, loveable character, but there's an underlying sadness to her story. How children witness the way adults react to certain things, and then try to change based on what they think adults want to hear. How they'll hide things that are "wrong." And sometimes, the adults do dismiss her fears. That, perhaps, is the worst part.
Footer's story needs to be told. It has to be out there so children know they're not "wrong" for feelings certain things, and their feelings are just as valid as the adults who care for them.
Thank you for this story.
July 13, 2019
This is a book that follows a girl named Fontana Davis, but everybody calls her Footer. Footer's mother is bipolar, and she has been taken to a psychiatric unit for further help. This really upsets Footer, and it has her worried that her mom might have been behind an incident in her town where a barn burned down, at least one person was killed, and two more people were missing and possibly dead. In addition to this, Footer worries that she will become crazy because of her mom's illness. This fear causes Footer to do some things that cause concern for those around her, and the mystery about the barn fire doesn't help things because it consumes Footer's time and thoughts. I would recommend this book to anybody. This book is easy to follow, and it does a really good job of grabbing your attention and keeping you on the edge of your seat.
I think this would be a good book to share with all students because it does address the topic of mental illness. I also think that students who enjoy mystery novels would really like this book. There are some moments that really make the reader wonder what will happen next, and there are also moments that deliver something that you would have never expected to happen. I think this book could possibly be used with an entire class, but it definitely deserves a spot in a classroom library so students could read it independently if they would like to do so.
I think this would be a good book to share with all students because it does address the topic of mental illness. I also think that students who enjoy mystery novels would really like this book. There are some moments that really make the reader wonder what will happen next, and there are also moments that deliver something that you would have never expected to happen. I think this book could possibly be used with an entire class, but it definitely deserves a spot in a classroom library so students could read it independently if they would like to do so.
June 30, 2017
Oh, Footer. I love you.
This book is so phenomenal, I can't believe I've never heard of it.
Footer Davis is a spunky, curious, heavy-hearted, brave, romantic soul who captured my heart from the very first page, " The day my mother exploded a copperhead snake with an elephant gun, I decided I was genetically destined to become a felon or a big-game hunter. That was good, since I had tried being a ballerina, poet, artist, and musician, and I ducked at all of those."
There's been a tragedy in Footer's home town. A fire. A murder. And some children have disappeared. She's trying to solve the mystery, but there's a fear that her mentally ill mother could be involved.
I was intrigued by the mystery and Vaught actually did surprise me with its conclusion, but the heart of this novel is Footer's journey to find and accept herself. A series of odd occurrences make her start to question her own sanity and this tears at her relationship with her father, her adorable, older neighbor and former cop, and her best friend/crush.
This book is impactful and sweet and powerful and oh so real, because life is messy AND scary sometimes.
This book is so phenomenal, I can't believe I've never heard of it.
Footer Davis is a spunky, curious, heavy-hearted, brave, romantic soul who captured my heart from the very first page, " The day my mother exploded a copperhead snake with an elephant gun, I decided I was genetically destined to become a felon or a big-game hunter. That was good, since I had tried being a ballerina, poet, artist, and musician, and I ducked at all of those."
There's been a tragedy in Footer's home town. A fire. A murder. And some children have disappeared. She's trying to solve the mystery, but there's a fear that her mentally ill mother could be involved.
I was intrigued by the mystery and Vaught actually did surprise me with its conclusion, but the heart of this novel is Footer's journey to find and accept herself. A series of odd occurrences make her start to question her own sanity and this tears at her relationship with her father, her adorable, older neighbor and former cop, and her best friend/crush.
This book is impactful and sweet and powerful and oh so real, because life is messy AND scary sometimes.
June 30, 2023
Footer Davis probably is going crazy!
Footer Davis is a good book. The genre of a middle school writing technique with the topic of murder and crimes is a new thing for me and I heavily enjoyed it. I will definitely be reading this book once again. I recommend it to grades 7 if your okay with
I enjoyed most of the book but I did find it very confusing in certain parts but was easy to understand in the end. I would love to see it as a movie, I think the plot was very interesting and special.
Something I dislike about the book is the little details at the side like the elephants gun, snake, sandwich. I thought it was irrelevant and made the story hard to talk about.
Footer Davis is a good book. The genre of a middle school writing technique with the topic of murder and crimes is a new thing for me and I heavily enjoyed it. I will definitely be reading this book once again. I recommend it to grades 7 if your okay with
I enjoyed most of the book but I did find it very confusing in certain parts but was easy to understand in the end. I would love to see it as a movie, I think the plot was very interesting and special.
Something I dislike about the book is the little details at the side like the elephants gun, snake, sandwich. I thought it was irrelevant and made the story hard to talk about.
August 6, 2017
This book is way more serious than the cover and opening lines lead you to believe. Footer struggles with the worry that she is getting sick like her mother. The flashbacks or hallucinations (she's not exactly sure which) are making her worries worse. Was she really there when the neighbor's farm caught fire? Part mystery, part understanding life with a mental illness, Footer Davis is a wonderfully engaging book. You feel her confusion and want her to be ok.
February 12, 2018
229 pgs. I only read about two chapters. This story starts with a man who shot a copperhead snake with his big shotgun. Dad works at a 911 center. Page 8 describes a scene …”nine days ago, somebody shot Mr. Abrams to death and burned the whole place to the ground.” The main kid in the story is 11 years old and older teens are referred to in the first chapter. Barnes and Noble says it is for age 10-14. This is just not really appropriate for elementary kids. Skip it.
September 5, 2022
Well done! I loved the twists and turns the story took. It was refreshing. The characters were fun and believable. Peavine is a great character. He was a great friend and big brother. I love how he and Footer's friendship developed to a little more. I will definitely be book talking this one to my middle schoolers.
Murder mystery
Fire
Mental Illness
Friends
Small town
Institutionalized
Abuse
DCS
Strong Dad
Support
Murder mystery
Fire
Mental Illness
Friends
Small town
Institutionalized
Abuse
DCS
Strong Dad
Support
March 26, 2018
This will be a good suggestion for my younger middle schoolers who like some mystery tied in with realistic fiction. I thought the author handled the underlying story about Footer's mom's mental illness quite gracefully and realistically showed the side of how kids could be affected by it. Footer is an exasperating, yet lovable character, and I enjoyed the story as a whole.
January 18, 2020
This book gets it right in a dozen places while keeping the reader caught up in the characters and the fast-moving story. Mental illness, coming of age, trust, abuse, learning differences, parenting, friendship, tragedy, and humor--all these are handled deftly but with a light hand. Crazy or not, Footer Davis is a terrific read!
July 2, 2025
I read this about eight years ago for elementary school reading bowl. I remember thinking it was a little weird but entertaining at the time. In hindsight, I think that both the southern and mental-health-related representations were a bit shallow. Other than that, I think it is a good read for young kids in late elementary to early middle school.
April 26, 2020
This book is classified as a "mid-grade" novel. As an adult I enjoyed it very much. It begins almost as a comedy and quick read but quickly becomes a young girls narrative of living with a bi-polar mother and the fears of becoming like her.
Very well written, characters you want to know.
Very well written, characters you want to know.
January 6, 2018
This was so good! I love how it dealt with a lot of tough issues. Definitely worth the read.
July 12, 2017
Very boring. Glad to finish!
April 11, 2018
Unlike almost all books for kids this age Footer doesn’t make any stupid decisions.
July 25, 2018
Such a cute little story. Though, it is a wonderful story of its own. I have never read anything like it.
August 7, 2018
A well-written story exploring different levels of crazy.
November 24, 2018
Entertaining book about a girl who fears she may be showing signs similar to her mother’s mental illness. This book I’d more of a young adult book rather than adult book but enjoyable nonetheless.
July 6, 2019
I loved Footer, how creative the book was, and how sensitive topics were addressed in the book.
August 19, 2022
So good! A very deep look at bipolar disorder, first love, best friends and a murder mystery. I could not stop reading this one!
Grades 5 and up.
Grades 5 and up.
December 30, 2020
Gave me more awareness about Bipolar Disorder
March 22, 2017
A story that spotlights what it is like to live with a family member that has a mental illness. The characters are real, life like. The mystery of what happened that night at the Abram's farm leads Footer and her friends on an adventure that leads to not only the answer but a better understanding of themselves and those around them.
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