Review: Frankie’s World by Aoife Dooley

Author: Aoife Dooley

Genre: MG Contemporary

Published by: Scholastic

Publication date: 06/01/22

Pages: 272

My rating: ★★★★★

I received a free review copy from Scholastic in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

From acclaimed Autistic Irish comedian Aoife Dooley comes a fresh and funny debut middle-grade graphic novel about fitting in and standing out.

Frankie is different from everyone in her class, and she can’t figure out why. She has trouble concentrating, and her classmates tease her for not having a dad at home. To try to make sense of the world, Frankie doodles her daily adventures in a journal. One day, when Frankie sneaks into her mom’s room and sees her biological father’s name on her birth certificate, she decides to go on a mission to track him down. Could Frankie’s father be the key to finding out why Frankie feels so adrift?

A unique story told with a light touch and an abundance of warmth and wit, Frankie’s World is laugh-out-loud funny and a love letter to daring to be different.

Frankie’s World is an own voices graphic novel, written and illustrated by Aoife Dooley, about a girl who is different to others around her and doesn’t know why. She decides to go looking for her biological father in the hope of finding answers.

I was so excited to get sent a review copy of this, both as an avid reader and autistic person and I wasn’t disappointed. I read this in one sitting, rereading it as soon as I turned the last page. I know we’re only in the first half of January, Frankie’s World is definitely going to be on my list of 2022 favourites come December.

Frankie’s World is must read for everyone, not just autistic people. Its funny, relatable (to me anyway) and gives the reader an insight into everyday life for an autistic person. It just shows how important own voices representation is, I never saw myself in books growing up and to see books like this out there brings me so much joy. Its exactly the kind of book I would have loved as a kid. I’m doing a terrible job of selling this, just trust me and give it a read.

Buy from: Waterstones Hive