Freaky Green Eyes

Starred review from September 15, 2003
The daughter of a charismatic football star-turned-sportscaster narrates Oates's (Big Mouth & Ugly Girl) captivating novel, which bears some resemblance to the O.J. Simpson story. Fifteen-year-old Franky narrates and opens with a flashback to a party she attended just after her 14th birthday, "when Freaky Green Eyes came into my heart." This feisty alter-ego emerges when Franky is nearly raped, defends herself, and tells no one about the incident. The quick-thinking survival instincts that "Freaky" embodies, become essential to the narrator's ability to make sense of her world, as her parents' marriage begins to collapse. Franky sides with her father, even though she suspects he is hurting her mother; she blames her mother for "provoking" him, and acts like she doesn't miss her mother when she begins to spend more time away from the family to pursue her art in a small town an hour from their suburban Seattle home. Oates makes manifest the narrator's inner struggle between Franky and Freaky, and paints Franky's father as both magnetic and menacing. Even after her mother and a gay male friend go missing and her father is a key suspect, Franky initially makes a statement on his behalf. But Freaky wins out, making a "Freaky-impulsive" decision that leads her to uncover the truth. The gray Northwest setting provides a fitting parallel to the heroine's life, where facts are often hard to see. Oates builds the mounting tension masterfully, crafting a fast-paced narrative that will haunt readers long after the final page. Ages 14-up.

batgirl99 - In the book Freaky Green Eyes by Joyce Carol Oates, the main character is a girl named Franky Pierson. She thinks she has a great life, until her mother disappeared one day. Franky and her sister, Sam, are furious and want to find out why their mother all of a sudden disappeared. For now, they have to deal with their father who has been nasty to them, and is the only suspect for the disappearance of their mother. Franky knows that her father still loves her, and so she takes his side of the problem. Later in the book, Franky has an alter-ego named Freaky, Freaky Green Eyes. Freaky tries to help Franky solve the mystery of her missing mother. I really enjoyed this book, although there were some scary parts. I have never read a book written by this author before. It was something new, and I really like the way she describes things. I would recommend this to anyone who likes Fiction/mysterious books! :D