Critical Praise

"Justin Kramon’s moving and engrossing, Finny, is as refreshing as it is unusual: Dickensian in its span and generosity, contemporary in its exuberance and furtive humor, timeless in its assessment of family and friendship, innocence and love, this is a debut novel of exceptional achievement and considerable rewards."

—Jim Crace, National Book Critics Circle Award-Winning author of Being Dead

"There are sad moments in Finny...but Kramon finds humor in sadness, and the novel’s overall impact is optimistic...Kramon is a talented young author and Finny a worthy read, and a dickens of a first novel."

—Boston Globe

"[C]ombining the human panoply of David Copperfield with the cutting colloquial wisdom of The Catcher in the Rye...Finny is the rare authentic coming-of-age novel. The protagonist matures without losing her sparkle. Her view of people changes as she adds new facets to the prism of her consciousness. The supporting characters also grow in unlikely and often heartening ways."

—Baltimore Sun

"Imagine Charles Dickens had been bundled into a time machine, given a stack of Judy Blume novels to read en route to the 21st century, then asked to write a coming-of-age tale set in modern America. He might well have produced something along the lines of Justin Kramon’s gently charming and slyly subversive debut novel...Adult readers will find echoes of their own youth in Finny’s story as she grows up, goes to college and finds work. The arc of her romance with Earl is movingly realistic, and the descriptions of their sexual experiences is refreshingly honest: unsentimental but full of heart...If I had a teenage daughter, I’d give her this book and hope it would help her turn out the same way."

—The Financial Times