Twelve-year-old Frankie has a long list of worries, from skin cancer and disease, to fire ants, to terrible things happening to his family. A nighttime chat with his mum generally has the effect of calming him down and this ‘10pm question’ is a regular part of their routine. But as the story unfolds, we realise that Frankie’s mother hasn’t left the house in nine years, that she’s unable to do so. The stress that this is putting on Frankie, who feels responsible for his mum, grows and grows, and he becomes concerned that he will turn out the same.

Things reach crisis point when his new friend Sydney announces she is leaving. Sydney’s mother, in contrast to Frankie’s, can’t stay in any place for more than months at a time, which is equally problematic for her daughter.

Frankie’s eccentric but lovable relations and his friends are depicted with immense skill in this extremely engaging, often very funny story. In addition to his other problems, Frankie also has to cope with the usual challenges facing twelve-year-olds and this is also warm, sensitive and credible portrait of a young boy in a unique situation.

KATE DE GOLDI

Kate de Goldi lives in New Zealand. She has won a number of accolades for her fiction, including the Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award and the Esther Glen Medal. Her book Clubs, illustrated by Jacqui Colley, won Book of the Year in the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards in 2005. The 10pm Question was a number one bestseller in New Zealand, a White Ravens 2009 selection as an Outstanding New International Book for Children and Young Adults, and the winner of the 2009 New Zealand Post Book Awards. In 2001, Kate was made a New Zealand Arts Foundation Laureate.