11 Books Found

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"Middle grade chapter book with a side character girl who wants to be called a boy’s name (Frankie or Francis?) Looking for a middle grade chapter book, likely published in the 1970s or 80s. It was aimed at a fairly young audience (younger end of middle grade). There’s a side character who is a girl with red hair. She wants to be called a boy’s name — I think it was Frankie or Francis, but I’m not 100% sure. She’s a cousin of either the main character or another character. Her parents/family dismiss it as a phase and think she’s being silly. She’s not the focus of the story but she stuck with me. The main plot might have been adventure or possibly fantasy — I’m not certain. It was a chapter book, not illustrated. I read it around 2010-2011 at age 11, but the book itself felt older — possibly a library copy of something from decades earlier."