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The 10PM Question

3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 · rating details · 900 ratings · 200 reviews

Frankie Parsons is twelve going on old man, an apparently sensible, talented boy with a drumbeat of worrying questions steadily gaining volume in his head. Only Ma takes seriously his catalogue of persistent anxieties; only Ma listens patiently to his 10 PM queries.

251 pages

Published 2008 by Allen and Unwin

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Aug 26, 2011 Jo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Jo by: Catie

Shelves: ya, good-grief, just-been-cutting-onions, my-favourites, oh-how-we-laugh, you-got-a-friend-in-me

“It was really was a continual disappointment, thought Frankie, how all little pieces of story magic were eventually crushed by reality.”

and because I need a happy one too…

“Come on, throw it, throw it. I may as well get a shine on the end of my knob.”

Initial Final Page Thoughts.
Bonga Swetso ♥

High Points.
Frankie. Gigs. Sydney. The entire Parsons clan. New Zealand. Cakes. Knobshine. Projects. Mr A. Secret Passwords. Heart-shattering. Shredders. Card games. Lists. Quirks. Eccentricities. Sibling...more

9 likes · like · see review

May 31, 2012 Amy (Turn the Page) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-favorite-books, brilliant-junior-fiction

I should warn you now – I don’t think this review will be very well-written. I’m not sure I’m able to express my love, adoration, and pure joy with this book.

Quite simply, it is stunning. Heartbreaking, poignant, hilarious, beautiful, wonderful. It’s something very special.

In many ways I’m surprised to find it in the children’s section, as it is so insightful, with an unusual story-line and a sophisticated voice rarely seen in children’s fiction. But I’m delighted Templar (and previous publishi...more

5 likes · like · see review

Mar 27, 2013 Nikki rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-and-ya

I got this when it was a Kindle daily deal -- I couldn't resist a book about someone like me. My anxiety disorder didn't develop until I was twenty, but otherwise it's very much like Frankie's -- every little change to my body makes me panic I have cancer. And I have eczema, so I have a lot of rashes and bumpy skin and...

Anyway, Kate de Goldi writes sensitively but realistically about Frankie and his anxiety, framing it with his ordinary life, with the things that cause it and the things that ma...more

7 likes · like · see review

Sep 02, 2011 Trudi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, 2011-reads, coming-of-age, family-ties, prose-that-sings, mothers

If ever "a sweet and wonderful story" was ever written, this is it folks. It totally enchanted me with its sparkle and sincerity. The book tackles some pretty serious issues yet it never becomes bogged down or begins to feel preachy. It soars and flows from beginning to end.

Frankie's voice rings true as the soon to be 12-yr-old plagued by pernicious worry and stalked by his hypochondria. His fears are many and the only person who stands a chance at soothing them is his loving Ma. That is until...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 28, 2011 Catie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: middle-grade, read-in-2011, ya

Somewhere around one hundred and fifty pages into this book, I started getting nervous. I didn’t want to finish it. I didn’t want to know. This book transported me back to being young, when fears seemed insurmountable and avoidance seemed like the perfect coping mechanism. This isn’t the first young adult book to bring me back to my younger days (all the best do), but this book distinguishes itself with beautiful writing and a nice balance of tragedy and gentle sweetness.

Frankie is twelve years...more Somewhere around one hundred and fifty pages into this book, I started getting nervous. I didn’t want to finish it. I didn’t want to know. This book transported me back to being young, when fears seemed insurmountable and avoidance seemed like the perfect coping mechanism. This isn’t the first young adult book to bring me back to my younger days (all the best do), but this book distinguishes itself with beautiful writing and a nice balance of tragedy and gentle sweetness.

Frankie is twelve years old, almost thirteen. He’s in that special transition place between childhood and the teenage years, where secret languages and animals and adventures occupy him, and girls can still be best friends. But Frankie is also old and weary. He can’t keep his mind from traveling down well-worn roads of worry: the groceries, the fire alarm, food poisoning, rashes, cancer, and his mother. His family is quirky and close-knit and fun, but they never acknowledge the undercurrent of illness in his house. Now that his brother has moved out and his sister has become absorbed with being a teenage girl, all the responsibility has fallen to him. When confident, straightforward, world traveler Sydney shows up in Frankie’s life, she barges her way past all of his defenses. He initially finds this yet another source of anxiety, but soon he realizes that it is a relief to lay down his burdens.

The writing is imaginative and whimsical. The narration follows Frankie’s thoughts, moving swiftly from past to present and back and flitting from one topic to another. He occupies himself with listing birds, dogs, gems, cricketers, anything to keep his mind from worrying all the time, but he can’t stop. All of his disorganized thoughts inevitably converge on the anxieties that he’s trying to avoid. I did feel a bit of exasperation a few times as Frankie’s tangents became overly random and detailed, but I think that he does too. Kate De Goldi so smoothly translates Frankie’s mental state into words. He is worried, but also so tired of having to worry, so ready to put it all aside. His growth from avoidance to painful recognition to the desperate need to change is achingly heartwarming.

Every character in this book is a bit peculiar and highly original, but they all feel real. This book has a rather large cast too: from Frankie’s epically fat aunts who love gardening and tai chi, to his loyal best friend Gigs, to his verbose year eight teacher Mr. A, to his school bus driver who requires a new password each day and has the memory of an elephant. They are all packed with quirky characteristics, but they never feel cartoonish. This book is also set in New Zealand and has a quaint, small town feeling to it.

This book falls somewhere in between middle-grade and young adult, but I think that this is one that transcends both of those labels. There are so many aspects of this book that I can relate to. My mother falls somewhere in between Sydney’s mother and Frankie’s mother, and I feel a strong connection to both characters. I was, and still am, habitually early to everything in my life in direct reaction to my mother’s habitual lateness. I know that sometimes anxiety can settle on the irrational, and exclude mundane things like money, food, fire alarms, and doctor’s appointments. I know how exhausting it is to feel like the only person who’s worrying about those mundane things, and to feel that those worries must be exaggerated to compensate. And, probably most of all, I know what it’s like to feel that doom of genetic inheritance: that mental illness is waiting just around the corner.

Perfect Musical Pairing

Band of Horses - Monsters

Band of Horses’ folksy sound and Ben Bridwell’s distinctive, quirky voice remind me a lot of this book. This song is about coping with problems “buried deep beneath your heart and somewhere in your stomach.” It’s melancholy but hopeful; “If I am lost it’s only for a little while.”
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14 likes · like · see review

Mar 28, 2011 Khornberger rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a title that I received from my book review committee and I saw that it was on a best of 2010 list so I prioritized it.

This is a sweet novel which centers around thirteen-year-old Frankie, his friends, and his wacky but lovable family. The novel is set in New Zealand, so it offers a fun look into their culture. As Frankie's life unrolls and you see his family with their infectious fun, you also begin to see a flip side that there is something wrong that is not being addressed. The reade...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 18, 2009 Judith rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrensfiction, youngadultfiction

This novel for older children and younger teenagers is an intricately structured, sophisticated character study. It is a carefully crafted novel that builds on theme and character as it weaves in and around the family and friendships of main character Frankie over a few months in the year he is about to turn 13.

Frankie carries worry with him like a comfort rug. He gets about OK most days, as long as the battery is the fire alarm is fresh and someone in his chaotic household has remembered to lea...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 29, 2013 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-stars, fiction, children-and-young-adult

Narratives about mental health have been on my mind lately, and I've had my eye out for stories that treat mental health with seriousness but aren't primarily "issue" stories and that don't turn out to be "what beautiful angst!" sorts of treatment. The 10 PM Question was pretty much the epitome of this, where twelve-year-old Frankie's world is three-dimensional and fun to read, his voice and his perspective were vivid and so engaging to read, and the mental illnesses affecting him and his family...more

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Oct 05, 2011 Lyrical rated it 5 of 5 stars

I rarely call a book a gem because I’m always waiting for a book like The 10pm Question to come along before I do. My gems have to be completely understated and not well known but 100% worth reading – and here is a book that fulfils all those criteria.

The story follows Frankie Parsons who is afflicted to some degree with OCD and suffers from an anxiety disorder. His character is so carefully put together and so beautifully written I was not long into the book before I was completely immersed in...more I rarely call a book a gem because I’m always waiting for a book like The 10pm Question to come along before I do. My gems have to be completely understated and not well known but 100% worth reading – and here is a book that fulfils all those criteria.

The story follows Frankie Parsons who is afflicted to some degree with OCD and suffers from an anxiety disorder. His character is so carefully put together and so beautifully written I was not long into the book before I was completely immersed in his story and utterly attached to him. As a teenager I had an anxiety disorder so I could really sympathise with Frankie and can say from experience that Kate de Goldi has caught his problems so expertly yet so delicately at the same time. Nothing ever leaps out and smacks you in the face, the author uses a perfect level of sensitivity, mixing in a wonderfully subtle wit to create a delicious story that you can make up your own mind about. It’s one of those that doesn’t expressly tell you what it’s trying to achieve it just opens up the floor for debate and lets you think and make your own decisions.

Frankie is not the only great character, all of Kate de Goldi’s characters are immaculately formed and loveable in their own unique way. They feel like real people; nobody has special powers or overwhelming destinies to fulfil, they are just normal people with all the flaws and oddities that normal people have. The 10pm Question is really like a slice of life, like you’ve fallen into a fly-on-the-wall documentary and you get to see all the colours of life, all the textures of humanity, and all the shades of internal conflict. This is probably best demonstrated in the actual 10pm questions that Frankie poses to Ma. It’s almost like thought for the day but through the eyes of a twelve-year-old. These moments at the end of each chapter are like Frankie’s little reconciliations with life. They are the point in the day when Frankie connects most with his mentally ill mother, who is the source of all his anxiety, and they are without a doubt some of the most touching scenes I have ever read in a book. Ma clearly cares deeply for her son but due to her illness it is hard for her to show it by being a “proper” mother, but in these moments she can do something for Frankie, she can try to allay some of his worries and fears and she is, despite everything, the one person in Frankie’s life who can actually do so.

If you haven’t heard of The 10pm Question before I’m actually quite glad. It’s the kind of book I just want to wrap up, take with me everywhere I go and never let anyone else read it because it’s such a personal story. Having said that, if you don’t read it, you’ll be seriously missing out on one of the most touching, caring, witty, beautiful stories you will ever have the pleasure to read.

Lyrical Reviews
@LyricalReviews
Goodreads Group: No Dark Romance Allowed (less)

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Aug 17, 2011 Bridget rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. 1) "The 10 PM Question" is marked as a "cross-over" novel; a book that is appealing and suitable for both children and adults. Do you think this is an appropriate classification? How would a younger person's reaction to the story different from your own?

It seems more like an adult book. I'm not sure if this type of naration (two weeks gap between stories and weaving in and out of the present) can capture the children (younger than age 13). I want to know myself what the children's reaction would...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Brina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bei dieser mehr als ausführlichen Kurzbeschreibung spare ich mir eine Zusammenfassung ;)

Kate de Goldi’s Jugendroman „Abends um 10″ ist eine gefühlvolle, ruhige Geschichte, die das Leben von Frankie, 12 Jahre alt, thematisiert.

Neben einem sehr angenehmen und flüssigen Schreibstil überzeugt die Autorin mit einem Protagonisten, der vielseitiger nicht sein kann.
Frankie ist trotz seines Alters sehr reif und seine Gedanken, Gefühle und sein Handeln sind interessant und aufschlussreich.
Obwohl man so ei...more Bei dieser mehr als ausführlichen Kurzbeschreibung spare ich mir eine Zusammenfassung ;)

Kate de Goldi’s Jugendroman „Abends um 10″ ist eine gefühlvolle, ruhige Geschichte, die das Leben von Frankie, 12 Jahre alt, thematisiert.

Neben einem sehr angenehmen und flüssigen Schreibstil überzeugt die Autorin mit einem Protagonisten, der vielseitiger nicht sein kann.
Frankie ist trotz seines Alters sehr reif und seine Gedanken, Gefühle und sein Handeln sind interessant und aufschlussreich.
Obwohl man so einen Jungen nicht täglich begegnet, wirkt er sehr authentisch und ich hätte ihn sehr gerne als kleinen Bruder gehabt.

Ein wenig leid getan hat er mir wegen seinem Kontrollzwang, allerdings wird auch dieser im Laufe der Geschichte immer nachvollziehbarer und man kann nicht anders, als Frankie in sein Herz zu schließen. Vor allem sein Verhältnis zu seiner Mutter ist sehr rührend und stimmt einen nachdenklich.

Aber auch alle anderen Charaktere werden von der Autorin sehr ausführlich und liebevoll beschrieben. Man merkt schnell, wie die Autorin versucht hat, hier sehr viele Ideen und Gedanken unterzubringen, was ihr mehr als gut gelungen ist.

Ebenfalls ein Pluspunkt ist die Tatsache, dass hier endlich mal wieder ein Jugendbuch entstanden ist, in dem keinerlei Fantasy- oder Thrillerelemente enthalten sind.

Negativ aufgefallen ist mir allerdings das Cover.
Stellenweise ist es mir zu schlicht und ausdruckslos, da gefallen mir die ausländischen Cover schon deutlich besser und aussagekräftiger.

Ein weiterer, aber sehr kleiner Kritikpunkt ist die Altersempfehlung.
Hier wird vom Verlag eine Altersempfehlung von 12-15 Jahre gegeben, ich würde dieses Buch jedoch erst ab 15/16 Jahre empfehlen, da dieses Buch trotz des flüssigen Schreibstils nicht einfach so wegzulesen ist und sich eher mit ernsteren Dingen wie Angststörungen und Kontrollzwang auseinandersetzt.

„Abends um 10″ entführt den Leser in eine Familiengeschichte, die einen so schnell nicht los lässt und mich sehr berührt hat.
Absolut empfehlenswert.(less)

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Jun 22, 2011 TheBookSmugglers rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Originally reviewed on The Book Smugglers: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2011/06/b...

Twelve-year-old Frankie Parsons is an extremely gifted artist, with a love for birds and languages. He is also a persistent worrier and a hypochondriac, someone with an internal “rodent voice” which constantly nags and niggles about a variety of problems: from groceries that need to be bought, lack of money for the school bus in the piggy-bank to the smoke-alarm batteries that need to be replaced and the spreading...more

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Apr 14, 2011 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: boyz, j-fiction, realistic, teen

I wanted to like this more than I actually did. Frankie is a quirky, heart-breaking narrator, and his friends Gigs (hated that name!) and Sydney are well-fleshed-out characters and equally...quirky. Overall, this book was just *too* quirky for me...like kind of forcedly so. All of the kids' fathers have quirky nicknames, Frankie and Gigs have invented their own language, Frankie has a trio of strange and awesome great-aunts who figure somewhat prominently in story...all of which is charming....t...more

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Feb 02, 2011 Danielle Larca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

Frankie Parsons is a worrier. He worries about the batteries in the smoke alarm, the amount of food in the house, whether he'll have enough money for bus fare, and a whole host of other things. He wonders how everyone else in his life can be so blissfully content to live in ignorance about the sheer number of things that could go wrong. Ma is the only one who allows Frankie to give voice to his worries; of course, one of the things that worries Frankie most is Ma.

When a new girl arrives at schoo...more

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Jan 26, 2011 Fred rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-read, childhood, coming-of-age, modern, youth

Young adult books can oftentimes be much better than books for adults. There's a certain innocence to them that's great. This book is maybe 2/3 of the way there. It's definitely unique. The characters are interesting, colourful, the setting is unique (New Zealand) but there are a few thinks which irked me about the book. There's some
class discrimination in the book. One of the young character's mother is a welfare recipient who 'refuses to work' but also owns a Porsche because she has several ri...more

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Nov 12, 2010 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: juvenile-fiction, realistic-fiction

Twelve-year-old Frankie Parsons is consumed by chronic worry and anxiety, including a 10 p.m. question he must ask his mother every night, and an agoraphobic mother who hasn't left the house in nine years. In a fairly classic plotline, he doesn't question these things until newcomer Sydney, an outgoing, inquisitive girl, arrives at school and shakes everything up.

What I admired the most about this book is while it explores important issues you don't always see depicted in children's literature,...more

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Feb 06, 2010 Maureen Crombie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novel

A gorgeous, well-written, slice-of-life story that runs along in a captivating and smooth way. Frankie Parsons is a 12 year-old going on old man: who is an apparently sensible, talented almost-teenager who holds a drumbeat of old and new questions that filters constantly in his mind: Are the smoke alarm batteries flat? Does the cat, then the rest of us in the family, have worms" Will bird flu really strike and ruin life as we know it?

However most of his Frankie's family and friends seem untroub...more

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May 09, 2012 Daryn Hardy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I Loved the small town setting of the book which I think played nicely against both Ma and Frankie's great anxiety at the big wide World. Unfortunately, there were a few devices I didn't think quite worked. I didn't believe that a four year old Frankie would have come up with 'Bongo Swetzo' and the whole 'chilun' language thing being a combination of pig latin and Russioan seemed a bit too advanced a concept for two young boys to have invented alone. I did love all the descriptions of the eccent...more

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Jun 17, 2011 Mon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

About one third through the book, I became increasingly confused about the book's setting. The protagonist makes remarks about how Sydney is a radical and exotic place so I thought, 'why, these kids must be Americans!'. And then it was mentioned that the only traveling Frankie's family has done was to US and UK, so it rules out those two places as well. Frankie's sister also wears uniform and attends a Catholic school.
So now we know the book is set in an English speaking, uniform wearing place...more About one third through the book, I became increasingly confused about the book's setting. The protagonist makes remarks about how Sydney is a radical and exotic place so I thought, 'why, these kids must be Americans!'. And then it was mentioned that the only traveling Frankie's family has done was to US and UK, so it rules out those two places as well. Frankie's sister also wears uniform and attends a Catholic school.
So now we know the book is set in an English speaking, uniform wearing place which has lots of cakes and birds, and isn't in Australia, US, UK, Ireland, Scotland, Canada or Area 51.

It turns out that Frankie, the 12 years old boy, is actually from New Zealand.

And all of a sudden everything made much more sense.

I was born in Auckland, and anything that's about contemporary Kiwi land is automatically sentimental to me. I find Kiwi YA to be dramatically different to Aussie, or American YA (or maybe I'm just a limited reader). But seriously, it was refreshing to read a 'troubled teen' novel that doesn't involve drugs, cyber bullying, pedophiles, body image issue and whatever else is on MTV shows. Instead, it deals with more a teenager's more ordinary everyday concerns such as homeworks (in details as well), sports, hobbies, family dynamics, and current affairs to a certain extent. Not that it's necessarily a good thing, but De Goldi has chose to portray a fairly innocent New Zealand with the old fashioned, hospitably friendly and polite people. Baking is enjoyed by all, everyone loves home cooking and have fruit as snacks. Being obese is still something that's unusual and funny as opposed to the 'ZOMFG McDonalds will give you brain cancer and you'll die with your kidneys falling out it must be shut down' reaction. Is it realistic? Well I'm not sure, I suppose every city and its assholes and sheltered kids, NZ teens aren't any more depressing or happier (in fact while Australia came 6th for the world's happiest countries, NZ wasn't even in the top 10). But it will always reminds me of sunny days, lemonade (we used to grow lemons in the backyard which has orange skins and size of grapefruits) and excitement whenever I see a bridge (it was the pinnacle of human achievement to my 5 years old self).

Hmm, I don't know what else to say about the book. It's sort of like those happy childhood memories where you go 'man things were so much easier, better back then without Facebook and Justin Bieber'. Although it discusses some fairly dark subjects (anxiety illness, pseudo-child abuse), there's nothing explicit and you don't feel super depressed about the state of our world. I especially enjoyed the minor characters, even those who were only mentioned once. They all have such distinct personalities and quirks, while being optimistic and liberal. My only complaint is that the narratives can be quite chunky at times, and loaded with paragraphs of descriptions where the plot stays stagnant.

Anyway, Yay for New Zealand!

P.S. So everyone is still obsessed with crickets? And insanely good with bird trivia? Sometimes I wonder if I'm really from NZ.

(less)

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May 27, 2011 Wen Baragrey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh, how I loved this book. At first, the amount of description threw me a little. There is a lot, but it is SO important to the story. I'm the sort of person who gets bored with description and rolls on past it, but with this story, that's a big mistake. The characters in this are magnificent, each and every one of them. I am going to miss them all now that I've finished the book. I was anxious to get to the end to see how it all turned out for Frankie, and then so regretful when I actually made...more

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Jan 15, 2011 Ryan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A really good book - I picked it up for the title and read it because of the author's comments on the back.

The writing made me anxious, made me worry along with Frankie, although about batteries in fire alarms in my house, not his. Frankie's anxiety is an important part of the book and the way the words were written added to the experience of Frankie's anxiety.

While I did not appreciate being dragged off on bird watching expeditions (very early on Saturdays or Sundays - and it was always cold)...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Fred Gorrell rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-youngadult

This is a sweet character portrait of a twelve-year old boy battling his obsessive tendency to worry while grappling with a deep fear that he may be too much like his mother, who has been unable to bring herself to go out of the house for nine years. The story is set against a backdrop of reasonably affluent middle-class life in a family that includes ordinary siblings, a hard-working father, and eccentric, worldly aunts living nearby; a family well within the range of normal, were it not for th...more This is a sweet character portrait of a twelve-year old boy battling his obsessive tendency to worry while grappling with a deep fear that he may be too much like his mother, who has been unable to bring herself to go out of the house for nine years. The story is set against a backdrop of reasonably affluent middle-class life in a family that includes ordinary siblings, a hard-working father, and eccentric, worldly aunts living nearby; a family well within the range of normal, were it not for the persistent question about stay-at-home Mom. A new girl arrives at school and immediately befriends this boy, who already has a nice, stable, reliable best friend. Her family situation is different but also challenged. The prospect of losing this new friend when her mother decides to relocate precipitates a crisis that helps our young protagonist (Frankie) begin the process of setting his world right, with the help of a therapist.

Some students in middle school grapple with a fear that they may have inherited a trait from a parent or relative that will lead to their own inevitable manifestation of something they don't admire: alcoholism, abusiveness, dishonesty, stupidity, mental illness, intractable immaturity, or any of a large number of other conditions; by middle school, students are often acutely and precisely aware of their parents' failings, real and imagined. Unfortunately, some may fall into the trap of assuming that their heritage is their destiny, whether it relates to these challenges or to any of a number of other things they can influence if they acknowledge their power and the value of effort. Working with faulty attribution perceptions is as much a part of the middle school curriculum as is teaching reading, writing or math skills. The challenge in this is sometimes great as students can be reticent about seeking help, particularly from adults.

This book, then, could be a good one to recommend to any student who might have a similar challenge, since it ends with Frankie embracing his own power and learning to value the help he gets. It may be a hard recommendation for some students to embrace: developing readers and residents of the United States. While the story is told with a lot of delightful small detail, it starts slowly, which may lead impatient readers accustomed to fiction with more overt action to lose interest. Also, the story is set in the suburbs of a city on the South Island of New Zealand and there are details of daily life that will be foreign to most students in the U.S., including references to cricket and rugby. It is great when a student can read a book, learn about a new culture, and see that the differences between cultures are less important than similiarities, but "unfamiliar" can be a barrier for some readers.(less)

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Feb 07, 2011 Franzie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: lex

I want to live in this book. Seriously, it's that good.

Frankie appears to be your average 12-year-old, except that he's not. He deems himself responsible for working the household, because his father is always busy, his older brother doesn't live with the family anymore, his older sister seems to only have fashion - and her boyfriend - on her mind and his mother... well, his mother reads dramatic Russian classics, runs a bakery from her kitchen and hasn't left the house in nine years. But despit...more

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Dec 13, 2010 Rebecca added it · review of another edition

I wasn’t sure what to expect with The Ten PM Question but I’d heard great things about it so I thought it would be a good book to read. Luckily, I was right. The Ten PM Question was a really good book and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
We’re introduced to Frankie and all of the other characters and while Frankie seems a little odd his life seems more normal than a lot of other people’s. One thing I really loved about The Ten PM Question was that you think you know what’s going on and then a little bit...more

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Oct 24, 2010 Cathy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: humor, realistic-fiction, teen-book

Having just seen and previously read It's Kind of a Funny Story, Frankie takes Craig's anxiety to a new level. While his brother and sister, father and three aunts are content, Frankie worries about everything, including whether the batteries in the smoke alarm are good. The only person with whom he talks about his anxieties is his ma and she has anxieties aplenty. But every night at 10 pm he goes into her room to talk. The problem is, he can't bring himself to talk about his biggest worry, beca...more

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Nov 05, 2010 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Frankie Parsons probably appears to most people to be a normal 12 year old boy. He is a good student, talented artist and all around good kid. But Frankie is a master worrier. He worries over everything real or imagined. Frankie's family knows he's a bit peculiar but have no inkling of the terrible burden he is carrying inside. When he becomes friends with the new girl Sydney, Frankie finds he is able to cope much better. Sydney's brave, creative, and assertive personality brings out the best in...more

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Mar 17, 2011 Embrc rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: candlewick

The 10 p.m. Question
De Goldi, Kate
Candlewick, c2008
1st U.S. edition, 2010
$15.99
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4939-5
Young YA - Highly recommended

This import from New Zealand is simply delightful! Frankie Parsons is 12 and has a head full of anxieties not to be fully alleviated by most members of his quirky family, his best friend Gigs, and his eccentric aunties. He ricochets through life alternating joy and worry, bouncing his questions off his unusual mother every evening, until he meets a free-spirited new...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Stephanie Dedhar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading bestsellers is good, but discovering hidden gems is even better. The 10PM Question is one of those gems. Like 600 Hours of Edward, I ordered this when it was a 99p Kindle Daily Deal and fell in love with a book I’d never otherwise have found.

Frankie Parsons is 12 years old, the youngest in a slightly dysfunctional but entirely endearing family – Frankie had me smiling within a couple of pages when he declares ‘this house doesn’t work!’ and kept me smiling till the end of the book. Kate D...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Luna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Frankie is 12 years old and worries about everything, he puts himself under pressure as he is certain that is he doesn’t do it no one will. The 10PM question is his semi regular visit to his parent’s bedroom to talk to his mother about this worries. The only thing they never talk about is the fact that Frankie’s mother hasn’t left the house in years.

When Sydney arrives she starts asking all those questions and slowly Frankie begins to talk about his mother and to unravel his own past. Why he sta...more

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Mar 14, 2011 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-literature

"'What do you mean?' said Frankie.

'Oh, good God, Frankie,' said Gordana, turning around from the balcony doors, a sudden heaving thundercloud. 'You know what I man. The Freak-Out gene. You have it. Ma has it. You're exactly like Ma. You freak out at things. You know you do.' She reached across the bed and pulled the light cord that hung from the ceiling; instantly the bedroom lit up like a fairground.

Frankie squinted in the brightness and drew back from Gordana, who seemed larger now, looming be...more "'What do you mean?' said Frankie.

'Oh, good God, Frankie,' said Gordana, turning around from the balcony doors, a sudden heaving thundercloud. 'You know what I man. The Freak-Out gene. You have it. Ma has it. You're exactly like Ma. You freak out at things. You know you do.' She reached across the bed and pulled the light cord that hung from the ceiling; instantly the bedroom lit up like a fairground.

Frankie squinted in the brightness and drew back from Gordana, who seemed larger now, looming before him, her eyes firing, pink spots burning on her cheeks.

So, thought Frankie. She had said it. It was out, in the bedroom with them, a stealthy demon whose presence he'd been trying so hard to ignore.

He had always known it, he supposed. It had been there always, alongside the rodent snarling, the knowledge that Louie and Gordana were like Uncle George - bold and carefree, fearless, joyous. And he was like Ma; he was timorous and beset, a hostage to dark imaginings, cowering somehow, waiting always for the chopper.'

I'm beginning to think there must be something in the water of Austrailia and New Zealand, which infuses YA authors from those countries with magical powers. Sonya Hartnett, Melina Marchetta, and now Kate de Goldi: all authors who tell intricate, powerful stories, with amazing technical skill.

In this novel, 12-year old Frankie lives in New Zealand with his family, themselves an odd cast of characters: his father (whom everyone calls Uncle George), his older sister Gordana, his older brother Louie (who now lives on his own), and his mother, who has not left the house for as long as Frankie can remember. Their house is also visited by Frankie's three aunts on a regular basis, as well as Frankie's best friend, Gigs. Frankie's life is taken up by the usual concerns - school, cricket scores, managing as the youngest sibling in his house - until a new girl, Sydeny, enters his class, and begins to become a closer friend to Gigs and Frankie. Sydney's mother has moved her family around a lot, and there is a dark backstory in that house, but Sydney's very presence, and her way of facing problems head-on, asking tons of questions, forces Frankie to look more closely at his own home life, and the reasons why he is the way he is, and why his mother never goes outside.

On the surface, not a lot happens in this book. There is no major action, and the characters all remain in basically the same places (except for Sydney, who moves) as they began the novel. Still, de Goldi creates such a rich story surrounding Frankie's family, that I was immediately taken in, and wrapped up in what they were doing. The novel moves slowly, particularly in the first few chapters, but de Goldi crafts such lush descriptions, and beautiful sentences, that I probably took twice as long reading it as I normally would have, simply because I kept going back and rereading passages.

This is a beautiful novel, and it deserves to be read in a classroom. However, it's not like many other YA titles; for one, there is a much greater reliance on description than dialogue, which makes the novel move at a more leisurely pace. And the countless references to locations and elements of life in New Zealand would certainly confuse American readers (as they did to me), at least without some sort of primer on the country. But for examples of style and tone alone, I could imagine teachers pulling excerpts out of this book, to show to their students.

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About Kate De Goldi

Kate De Goldi is a full-time writer who grew up in Christchurch and now lives in Wellington. Her first book was for adults: called like you, really, it was published under the name Kate Flannery, and gave a series of interlinked short stories about the women in a Catholic family. Since then she has won numerous awards and accolades for her fiction, including the American Express and Katherine Mans...more

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“I wanted to write about the complexity and hilarity in the everyday business of being human.” — 4 people liked it

“He was a funny guy, and a smart one- and the smartest thing about him, in Frankie's view, was that he never, ever, ever worried.” — 2 people liked it

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