Teenager Francie Lanoo is smitten with two things in life: shoes and heartthrob Berkeley Mills, who she knows is out of her league. After months of ogling him, she finally gains the confidence to befriend him. And when he, out-of-the-blue, asks what her ideal shoe would look like, she embarks on a quest to find it ... just for him. Low and behold, the stars align and Francie begins dating Berkeley--all signs indicating theyre a match made in heaven. But when the opportunity presents itself for Francie to attend high school in Italy (the land of beautiful shoes), she ignores her gut, accepts Berkeleys encouragement, and says goodbye to the love of her life and the only world shes ever known. Following high school graduation, having grown accustomed to freedom and lifes many adventures, Francie decides to study fashion design in New York, all the while continuing to refine the characteristics of her ongoing shoe hunt. And though Berkeley has chosen to attend college on the opposite side of the country, Francie remains hopeful that their relationship will one day resume. True love is supposed work that way, right? Unexpectedly, tragedy strikes and flips the world upside-down, causing Francie to plunge into a tailspin, abandoning all pursuits of happiness. As time passes, she realizes that her chase for the ideal shoe was about something far more meaningful than footwear. Now only one question remains: does she have the tenacity to finish what she started and, in doing so, become the person shes meant to be? Im FRANCIE LANOO is a sometimes quirky, sometimes emotional coming-of-age novel expressed through the eyes of a shoe fanatic as she attempts to find herself--and true love.
