Sunday, April 8, 2012

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

So, here's my last catch-up review, which is more serious than Bad Kitty but still has its funny moments. This one's a lot less superficial  (it is a Young Adult book, but it's a serious YA book nonetheless). It moves slowly at times and is well-paced at others, so it's kind of the opposite of Bad Kitty. It's still a really good book, though, just in a different way. Here ya go: the review of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart!
At the beginning of the book, we meet Frankie Landau-Banks as a freshman at Alabaster Preparatory Academy, a highly competitive and pretentious boarding school. She's not exactly there by free will; it's something of a tradition in their family to go there. She's an awkward, socially invisible girl whose only social inclination is the Debate Club and her roommate Trish. Over the summer before sophomore year, though, something changes. She fills out her figure, and gains some confidence and  a sharp tongue. That year she gets noticed and subsequently asked out by Matthew Livingston, a *cough*gorgeous*cough* senior guy and one of the elite. Dating Matthew opens up a completely new social circle filled with jokes, debates,and easygoing teasing. Frankie still feels a little left out, though; she knows that if/when she and Matthew break up, everyone there would promptly forget her name. That feeling intensifies when she stumbles upon a secret society one nightone that all the guys in her group are in (including Matthew). Further investigation reveals that this an exclusive, all-male secret society that has been around since the mid-1900's: the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds. Annoyed at the sexism of the club and at Matthew, Frankie decides to show them that girls can be just as brilliant masterminds as them- in Frankie's case, more. What follows is a sequence of events (and pranks) that resulted in what Frankie Landau-Banks is today: possibly the most underestimated, scheming, brilliant mind of the time. And she hadn't even graduated high school yet.
Yeah. It's a very well-written book that shows thoughtfulness, (lots of) intelligence, humor, and is surprisingly relatable. It's good for any high schooler, though maybe some really mature middle schoolers could read it. I highly recommend! While I said up at the top that it sometimes moved a little slowly, it's really interesting and is well worth the read. I intend to look up other books by the author, too. So, this one's at Kettleson (once I return it), SHS, Blatchley, and Mt. Edgecumbe. Go! What are you waiting for? Oh, yeah, it's Easter so they're probably closed. Still, you can get it tomorrow! Now shoo!

No comments:

Post a Comment