The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E Lockhart, Hyperion Books, 2008, 342 pp
Summary from Goodreads: 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.
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.
My Review:
Here we have the March selection of my 2018 Challenge to read a book a month from the last 12 years of my TBR lists. It falls into the Young Adult genre, I had it on my shelves, and it was great fun.
I have provided you with the Goodreads summary because it conveys the plot better than I could.
What I liked:
It is a boarding school novel. I never went to boarding school and am fairly sure that was a good thing, but I love reading books set in them.
Frankie Landau-Banks is a wondrous character. She blooms like a swan in her sophomore year from awkward nerd into a secret nerd with a goddess body. Once she snags a boyfriend she practices the age old advice not to let him know how smart she is but soon realizes doing so has made her invisible.
How she rises above that advice, uses her several super powers, and comes out on top is a story that would give a female of any age good dreams and a warm, happy heart.
I think I need to read more E Lockhart.
(The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is available in paperback by order from Once Upon A Time Bookstore.)
Hmm. I have not heard of this one (apparently came after my bookstore years)! But the boarding school part entices me as well. I was a boarding school brat at age 14, not sure if was good or bad or just the way it was. Still school settings always get me.
ReplyDeleteThis book was a big hit when I was still working at the bookstore. I guess that is why I put it on my 2008 list. It is a quick read but as you have had boarding school experience I am sure you would enjoy it.
DeleteThe boarding school setting has produced some memorable books, hasn't it? I'm not familiar with this one but it sounds like a winner.
ReplyDeleteOften boarding school settings seem old fashioned. This one was right up to date as well as being a good story about female empowerment.
DeleteThis one sounds like so much fun, plus there is the extra female empowerment storyline to top. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I would have to say it was the most fun book I read in March!
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