Freaky Green Eyes (2003) is the third young adult fiction novel written by Joyce Carol Oates.

The story follows the life of 15-year-old Francesca "Franky" Pierson as she reflects on the events leading to her mother's mysterious disappearance.

Through what she calls Freaky's thoughts, Franky accepts the truth about her mother's disappearance and her father's hand in it.

Oates has said that the O.J Simpson case and the amount of media coverage it received inspired her to write Freaky Green Eyes.

The novel's two primary themes, domestic violence and life in the media spotlight, raised questions about social taboo, teen anxiety, and the relationship between silence and truth.

It was few weeks after her 14th birthday and she went to a college party near Puget Sound in Washington with some friends from her high school.

Krista starts wearing scarves around her neck and long shirts to cover her wrists and arms, which Franky notices, thinking her mother is hiding something from her.

While there, Franky learns that Reid's friend's sons steal animals from a wildlife refuge and put them in cages to make their own zoo.

Franky vaguely remembers the cabin from her childhood, recognizing the fake rooster she had thought was real as a kid.

The reunion is cut short when Reid arrives, yelling at Franky and Samantha to pack up and get in his car.

As a result of media attention on the case, Franky and her family move to the house of Reid's defense lawyer on Vashon Island.

While there, the defense lawyer coaches Samantha and Franky, telling them that if Reid would have left in the middle of the night, they would have heard him leave.

She recalls waking up the night her mother disappeared, hearing Reid coming into the house through a door they never use.

Reid is sentenced to 50 years-to-life without parole for the deaths of Krista and Mero, whose bodies were found dumped at Deception Pass.

The publicity during this case was greater than for any murder trial seen,[4] due to Simpson's fame as a former professional football player and actor, and the fact of his former interracial marriage to Brown.

After a nine-month criminal trial, in which the defense attacked the LAPD, which had a history of racism, the jury returned a not-guilty verdict.

[citation needed] Oates described what was going on in the Simpson trial as "tabloid hell:" a person cannot go anywhere without someone knowing who they are and what was going on in their life.

As Heather Humann notes in her article, "Domestic Violence, Child Agency, and the Adolescent Perspective in Joyce Carol Oates's Freaky Green Eyes," in the book Reid's personality is portrayed as resembling that of Simpson.

[citation needed] Oates says that other events, such as the Monica Lewinsky controversy, show how deeply tabloid journalism has infiltrated society, especially when used for political ends, as that case was.

"[2] Deep down, Franky knows her father had something to do with her mother's disappearance and that Krista was not coming back, but doesn't want to believe it.

During Franky's trip for the Fourth of July, she meets the boys who had been taking animals out of a wildlife refuge and placing them in cages on their property.

Publishers Weekly gave Freaky Green Eyes a starred review saying that, "Oates builds the mounting tension masterfully, crafting a fast-paced narrative that will haunt readers long after the final page.