The Life and Deaths of Frankie D.

Frankie Doe, 17, is a loner. A disfiguring skin condition that she hides with heavy goth make-up keeps others at arm’s length. The mysterious past that landed her in an abusive foster home doesn’t help with her trust issues. Her new, kind foster mom still can’t break through the walls around Frankie.

But when Frankie’s dreams of a carnival sideshow from the last century start blending with events in her present, she has to figure out whom she can trust. Is it Max, the street-wise kid who shares her dreams? Is it Monsieur Duval, the showman, who knows more than he should, or is it Kris, her foster mother, who loves Frankie for who she is? The strange parallels with the Frances of her dreams leave Frankie wondering whether her mysterious appearance at the age of 10 in a dark alley was not just tragic, but supernatural.

Ostracized by the other girls at school, Frankie takes refuge in the art room where she draws her dreams into a graphic novel. The novel alternates between the challenges of Frankie’s daily life and her dreams about the carnival sideshow. In those dreams, Frankie sees through the eyes of Frances, known as “alligator girl” because of her scaly, reptilian skin. Frances’s “family” consists of the other “freaks”, including a fat lady, a girl with no arms and a contortionist. Frankie has never known anyone with her skin condition, and she is drawn to Frances’s story. When she encounters Monsieur Duval in real life, she and Max track him down, but her curiosity leads her into danger.

Frankie is a believable character, torn by her desire to belong and her need to keep others at a distance. She has been rejected too often to let anyone get close. But as Frankie seeks an answer to the curse of an Egyptian mummy, she gets closer to the truth of her own origin, a truth that her mind struggles to suppress.

Author Colleen Nelson deftly juggles two complex parallel stories to explore themes of trauma and belonging. Both stories show that, despite the demise of the “freak show” of the early 1900s, society still ostracizes those who are different. Seeing through the eyes of both Frankie and Frances, a reader can understand the pain of rejection and isolation.

Full of ancient Egyptian curses, time travel, and high school mean girls, The Life and Deaths of Frankie D. is an intriguing puzzle box of a mystery as well as a powerful statement about human connection and empathy.