In the Margins Book Club Kickoff: Francine's Spectacular Crash & Burn!

The first book of the semester is Francine's Spectacular Crash & Burn by Renee Swindle!

Francine Stevenson's chance encounter with a ten-year-old who shows up at her doorstep after her mother's sudden death spirals into an adventure for the ages

More about Renee Swindle:

Renee Swindle is the author of A Pinch Of Ooh La La, Shake Down The Stars, and Please Please Please (Dial/Dell), which was a #1 Blackboard Bestseller, a Literary Guild Alternate Selection, and was excerpted in Essence Magazine. Her most recent novel, Francine’s Spectacular Crash and Burn (Tiny Reparations) is a 2025 Spring/Summer Publisher’s Weekly Buzz Book pick, a top 10 notable fiction title by SF GATE, and a 10 notable fiction title by Bay Area News. She lives in Oakland, California.

More about Francine's Spectacular Crash & Burn:

Francine’s Spectacular Crash and Burn is a bighearted novel that will wiggle its way into the heart of every reader. It follows Francine Stevenson. whose life revolved around her anxious agoraphobic mother—her abrupt passing rocks Francine to her core and sends her into a tailspin of depression. She copes by rummaging through her mother’s assortment of pills, dancing manically at night to the disco she and her mother enjoyed while keeping up appearances at work during daylight hours.

On one such day Francine’s blissful high is interrupted by shouts outside her door. She pulls back her curtain only to catch sight of a few older kids picking on a much younger boy. She ushers ten-year-old Davie into her home for temporary refuge. After that moment, Francine’s life takes a surprising turn.

What appeared to be a one-off encounter evolves when Davie repeatedly shows up at Francine’s house. Despite herself, Francine begins to enjoy his unannounced visits. She finds herself wondering why a ten-year-old has so much autonomy. Francine realizes the proper thing to do is introduce herself to Davie’s foster parents and loop them in on the bullies she worries may still be giving Davie trouble, only to discover Jeanette, her high school crush, is Davie’s foster mother.

Francine’s Spectacular Crash and Burn introduces a voice readers won’t soon forget. The weighty topics of grief, loneliness, and depression are offset by Francine’s offbeat, bewitching humor. This novel is a multilayered tour-de-force nested into a heart-stirring coming-of-age.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Boston University Howard Thurman Center