Title: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Author: E. Lockhart
Pages: 352
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Copyright: 2008
Format: Hardback
Rating: 
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This book won the 2008-9 Cybils Award for Young Adult Fiction and was a 2009 Printz Award honor book.
From the back cover:
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:
Debate Club.
Her father’s “bunny rabbit.”
A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:
A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.Frankie Landau-Banks.
No longer the kind of girl to take “no” for an answer.
Especially when “no” means she’s excluded from her boyfriend’s all-male secret society.
Not when her ex-boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she’s smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew’s lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:
Possibly a criminal mastermind.This is the story of how she got that way.
This book has all of the ingredients for a great YA read. There’s a boarding school. And a secret society. Our heroine got “curvy” over the summer and now has a hot boyfriend. And did I mention that it was a 2009 Printz honor book? The writing was witty. Frankie is likable. But, somehow, this one didn’t completely gel for me. It was entertaining. I read it in one day. But it didn’t stick with me. It was a little preachy. It definitely didn’t have the power of a favorite book.
Still, though, I think teens and adults who like YA would really enjoy this book, if just for a fun boarding-school romp.
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m looking forward to reading this. someday?
Awesome title, that.
I felt the same way – didn’t quite live up to what I was hoping.
I don’t normally read much YA but I have this on my nightstand. We’ll see what I think ;)
Funny, I was just about to write my own review of this one. I felt the same way! I just didn’t relate to Frankie or something. Not that I relate to all the YA characters I read, but you know what I mean?
Thanks for the link! I really enjoyed this one (plus I’m a sucker for a boarding-school story), but I can see what you mean about it not becoming an all-time favorite.
I’m not sure why I’m fascinated with books set in boarding schools since I never attended one, but I am. This sounds great.
I really actually enjoyed this book. Something about Frankie just stuck with me, and I really liked that the author didn’t make a “fairy-tale” ending where everything was just awesome. I was left wanting to know what Frankie did next. I wish there was a sequel :-)