Now Is Not the Time to Panic

In making the poster, Zeke and Frankie set out to create unique and meaningful art. They sense that the photocopier could be instrumental in achieving this but produce several failed attempts before Zeke decides that their art must be something that can be made public. He instructs Frankie that the words should be “something really weird. Like, it doesn’t mean anything, but also, like, kind of means something” (37). By this, he feels Frankie should not try too hard to generate a phrase with intentional, obvious significance; the meaning will come later and will be unintentional on the artists’ parts. In many respects, this is exactly what happens, as not only do they find the phrase she generates compelling but portions of the phrase grow to represent the impact the poster’s notoriety has on both of them. The phrase “the edge”—taken from Frankie’s Nancy Drew fan-fiction novel—can be interpreted in multiple ways but suggests a limit or a boundary, something that cannot or should not be surpassed or may be dangerous to cross. “Shantytown” suggests a run-down, ramshackle grouping of houses. Though Frankie does not necessarily have Coalfield itself in mind when she generates this phrase, tonally it fits with the misfit status she and Zeke share.