Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2003 (Vol. 71, No. 17))
Freaky Green Eyes, born during a drunken assault at a teen party, becomes one teen's inner voice of resistance as her family crumbles around her. Franky's father is Reid Pierson, former star football player and current star sportscaster; all her life, he has been the charismatic sun around which his family revolves. To make him angry is to risk losing his approval and his love, and the punishments he metes out are harsh, but just. As Franky keenly observes, "It's hard to change how you feel. How you think is a lot easier." So warped is Franky's perception, that when her mother, an artist desperate to assert a life outside of the family orbit, moves out, her loyalties remain with her father-until her mother disappears entirely, and Freaky Green Eyes gives her the strength to confront her life honestly. Oates crafts an unflinching look at Franky's struggle to define herself against a backdrop of family violence, turning what could have been rendered as a sensationalistic "ripped-from-the-headlines" melodrama into a quietly gripping, beautifully written, impeccably paced psychological thriller. 2003, HarperCollins, $16.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 13 up. Starred Review. © 2003 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, September 2003 (Vol. 37, No. 5))
This thriller reminds the reader of the infamous O.J. Simpson case, in that it is about the family of a highly successful sports commentator and the murder of his wife, the narrator's mother. Franky (Francesca) adores her father and blames her mother for making him mad. She herself successfully fights off a violent encounter with an older teenager who tries to rape her, who accuses her of having "freaky green eyes" when she gets angry. So Franky doesn't know why her mother can't defend herself better. Her mother is trying her best to establish a life away from the controlling obsessions of her husband, Franky's father. She gets a cottage in a harbor community and pursues her art, telling her children she loves them and their father, but needs to have her own space. Franky and her younger sister see this as desertion and have very little understanding of the true situation. But when their mother disappears altogether, Franky questions her own assumptions about the family situation, and she opens her eyes to the possibility that her father is a murderer. Oates creates a suspenseful story about a strong, intelligent young woman. The high stakes involved in facing the truth are grippingly realistic--in fact, Franky's older brother is never able to accept his father's guilt and interprets Franky's cooperation with the police as betrayal. This will be a popular selection in the YA collection. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS--Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2003, HarperCollins, 341p., $16.99. Ages 12 to 18.

Ruth E. Cox (Library Media Connection, March 2004)
In this thought provoking coming-of-age story, 15-year-old Franky becomes Freaky Green Eyes for the first time when she is accosted by a drunk at a party and fights off his advances. She hadn't realized she possessed this inner strength, but her self- awareness deepens as she watches her family fall apart. Her mother moves out, causing her domineering father, a former football player and now famous sportscaster, to exert even more pressure on Franky and her little sister to choose him over their mother. Franky is almost convinced by her father that her mother is the one who broke up their perfect family, but a visit to her mother's new home makes Franky re-evaluate these feelings. When Franky's mother disappears, the pressure from her father to label her mother as a runaway wife and mother escalates, but Freaky Green Eyes senses that something is wrong. Franky sneaks away to her mother's home and finds a hidden journal, reading about her mother's fears for her own and her daughters' safety. She now knows her father killed her mother, but it still takes every ounce of inner strength for Franky to testify against him. Joyce Carol Oates does an outstanding job of character development, taking Franky from a shy withdrawn girl to a strong young woman who stands up for herself. Highly Recommended. 2003, HarperTempest, 341pp., $16.99 hc. Ages 12 to 16.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, November 2003 (Vol. 57, No. 3))
After an attempted rape at a party, Franky finds a secret, strong, uncowed side to herself, which she calls “Freaky Green Eyes.” She’s going to need it: her parents’ marriage is showing increasing signs of strain as her mother tries to find a life out from under the shadow of her high-profile sportscaster husband. Despite denials from both her parents, it becomes clear that they’re actually undergoing a separation, as Franky’s mother retreats to her family cabin on Puget Sound while Franky’s father keeps a firm and controlling--sometimes dangerously controlling--hand on Franky and her younger sister, Samantha, at their upscale home in Seattle. Garden-variety strain turns into something else when Franky’s mother disappears; while initially allowing herself to accept her father’s version of the situation--that his wife betrayed the family and that she’s run off in order to hurt them further--she begins to find the strength to remove herself from her father’s power and face the truth of his involvement in her mother’s disappearance. While this doesn’t have quite the sharp originality of Deb Caletti’s The Queen of Everything (BCCB 1/03), this is a compelling psychological portrait of a family destroyed by one of its own. Oates is particularly gifted at depicting the way Franky’s natural teenaged distance from her mother sets her up perfectly for the complete rejection her father encourages, and the way she unknowingly echoes her father’s tendencies; there’s also a subtle suggestion that she dangerously echoes her mother’s tendencies as well, in her inclination to keep silent in the face of threat. There’s enough tension and pulse-pounding to appeal to thriller aficionados as well as those reading for the human dynamics, and young people just beginning to cast a sharp eye at their parents’ human frailties will find perspective (or perhaps bitter satisfaction) in the notion of a father with feet of truly dangerous clay. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2003, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2003, HarperTempest, 341p, $17.89 and $16.99. Grades 7-12.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2004)
Like her mother Krista, fourteen-year-old Franky tries to laugh about her dad's controlling personality, but the joke has just about run its course. When Krista half-moves out of the house, Franky's dad, a famous sportcaster, insists that she and her sister share his sense of betrayal. Or else. The plot seems like a TV movie, but Franky and Krista's characters are nuanced. For Lois Duncan fans ready for something slightly more complex. Category: Older Fiction. 2003, HarperTempest, 341pp, $16.99, $17.89. Ages 12 to 14. Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.

Monica Irwin (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 16, No. 3))
Francesca, or Franky as she prefers to be called, is living a charmed life. At least that is how it appears to those on the outside. Her father is a famous ex-football player/TV sports announcer. Her mother is beautiful. Her older brother is in college. Her younger sister is smart and sweet. They are rich and live in a beautiful home. However, things are often not what they appear. Franky has an alter ego she calls Freaky Green Eyes. This alter ego came into being one night when she was almost raped at a party. Freaky Green Eyes is the entity that sees her life as it truly is, not as she wishes it were. Franky's mom and dad fight. Her mother often wears scarves to cover the bruises inflicted upon her by her husband. Franky has vague memories of being physically abused as a child. Franky's younger sister is scared of her father, and the whole household walks quietly when he is home. Reid Pierson is Franky's dad, and what he says goes. So when Franky's mom begins to paint and go to art shows, he is not pleased. She actually ends up moving out of the house, and Franky and the younger sister, Samantha, both blame the mother. When their mom disappears, they believe the lies of their father. Their mother is hiding, or she ran away. However, Franky knows deep inside, and Freaky Green Eyes makes her listen to her inner voice. When Franky finds her mother's journal, all is finally exposed. This is a very powerful and moving novel. The reader will be entranced by the voice of Franky and Freaky. Even though the reader will suspect and then know how the story will end, the ending is still emotional and hard. The action and characters are very believable, and the story, although a quick read, is told in an interesting way and is full of depth. The suspense grows with each page, and there will be no way the reader can stop until the book is completed. Fiction, Highly Recommended. Grades High school. 2003, HarperTempest, 341p., $17.89. Ages 14 to 18.

Christine Sanderson (VOYA, October 2003 (Vol. 26, No. 4))
Fourteen-year-old Francesca "Franky" Pierson, daughter of a former football star and famous broadcaster, cannot understand her mother's reluctance to be a part of her father's success. When her parents separate, she shuts her mother out of her life and closes her eyes to the signs that her popular father is controlling and abusive. Earlier that summer, however, Franky had discovered an inner strength and refers to that part of herself as "Freaky Green Eyes." As the summer continues, Freaky Green Eyes allows her to accept the truth about her parents' relationship and finally to testify against her father when she realizes that he has murdered her mother. "I was Freaky Green Eyes, and knew what I wanted and wasn't afraid." For readers old enough to remember the O. J. Simpson trial, there are obvious parallels, including Franky's quick-tempered, football star father and the murder of her mother and a friend. Oates's use of an adolescent narrator who comes of age while learning the truth about her family and helping to solve her mother's murder, however, adds an original dimension to this story. For younger readers without the trial as a frame of reference, the novel stands on its own as a realistic treatment of domestic abuse. Given the book's strong female protagonist, it should have broad appeal with girls, particularly in junior high school. It is appropriate for all libraries. VOYA CODES: 3Q 4P J (Readable without serious defects; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2003, HarperCollins, 352p, $16.99. PLB, $17.89. Ages 12 to 15.