The Frenzy - Francesca Lia Block

Cover art from Goodreads.com

“At some point in everyone’s life they ask the question, “Who am I?”

Four years ago when I turned thirteen I asked the question, “What am I?”

I had changed.

But I didn’t know how or why, or what I had become.” (p.1)

Block, Francesca Lia. The Frenzy. New York: HarperTeen, 2010.  $16.99 Hardback (258p) ISBN:9780061926662.

Recommended for ages 12 and up.

Liv is living in a small town where different is not accepted. It’s bad enough that she has to hide her interracial relationship with her boyfriend, Corey, and a secret for her best friend, Pace. Now she also must hide who she truly is. But who is she? Or maybe the question is what is she? This is the question she has been asking herself the last four years since the frenzy took hold. The frenzy occurs anytime Liv begins to lose her temper. In these times a great anger overtakes her and she becomes someone she cannot recognize. As Liv tries to keep her emotions under control, her father, the chief of police, is trying to solve a string of murders that have taken place behind her home. Are these events connected? As Liv draws closer to the truth, a mysterious woman is watching her from afar. What does this woman know? As Liv begins to unravel her true identity, both Pace and Corey seem to grow more distant. Can her relationship with Corey and her friendship with Pace survive The Frenzy? 


Awards/Honors
Margaret A. Edwards Award Winner - 2005

Hear Francesca Lia Block read the first chapter of this book.