About What is Your Child Reading?

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

by E. Lockhart

Synopsis

Frankie Landau-Banks is an disregarded and un-momorable girl at the age of 14.

Frankie Landau-Banks is a gorgeous girl and force to be reckoned with at the age of 15.

Frankie attends Alabaster Preparatory Academy, a private school for kids that tend to be rather privileged. Upon return for her sophmore year, she is no longer Zada Landau Bank’s little sister. She is her own person. Boys begin to notice her and before long she is dating Matthew. It seems life is dreamy. But it’s not.

Matthew treats Frankie as if she is a girl who knows nothing. In his self-centered world of himself, he never attempts to enter her world and often ditches her to enter his own world of secrets and “Dogs” (aka, his buddies). He doesn’t know, that while Frankie seems to be the quiet, acquiescent girlfriend, her mind is whirling and she slowly begins to realize that she does not want Matthew to define her life. Rather than come out and say this however, she launches her own secret battle, that of finding out about the “secret society” that Matthew is a part of.

The Order of the Basset Hounds is as old as Alabaster Preparatory Academy. They used to be impressive. Now, their secrets consist of stupid pranks, swimming in the campus pond, and meeting in locked buildings and the cemetery for drinking parties. A handbook exists for this secret society of theirs, but they don’t know where it is. If they could find it, it would unlock the history and mystery of The Basset Hounds. Frankie determines to find it. Once she does, she masterminds the Order of the Basset Hounds by taking on a secret identity through email, usurping the place of The Alpha Dog and taking uknown control of her boyfriend’s life.

Negative Elements

One cuss word.

Implied pre-martial sex and some very vague make-out dating situations.

Also, if one really wants to delve into the negatives aspects, there is a pervasive theme of rebellion against rules and authority.

Positive Elements

The writing of this book is superb. It is not a shallow book by any means, but digs deep into a teenagers world, representing it well in conversations that most adults would find pointless, but which are in true life, quite realistic of what teens talk about.

Unexpected, but making the book not only a poignant read but a fun read, are the “neglected positives” that make up Frankie’s vocabulary. Insufferable becomes sufferable, Impetouous becomes petuous, Inept becomes ept and so forth. These neglected positives are part of what make Frankie who she is as an individual, and add an element of intriguing thought for the reader.

The relationship between Frankie and her sister is a strong one, emphasizing healthy family relationships.

It is refreshing that Frankie is a teen girl, not giving in to peer pressure or is losing herself in an effort to gain popularity. Although she longs to be accepted by her boyfriend’s crowd, she has a rare discernment that for that to happen, she has to deny who she is as a person. Rather than become the senseless girl her boyfriend assumes she is, she struggles through the journey to discovering herself and in doing so, is a role model for teen readers to do the same.

Discussion Questions

~ Do you relate to Frankie? In what way?

~ Do you, like Frankie, seek to be different than what others expect, or are you losing yourself in an effort to conform?

~ Does your boyfriend/girlfriend seek to enter your world and get to know you, or do they expect you to make your world revolve around yours?

~ Are the pranks pulled by the Order of the Basset Hounds rebellion against authority or just teens being teens?

Rating

Although as a Christian mom I am not thrilled at implied teen sex nor pranks that are out of control, the overall theme of a girl seeking her own instead of letting peers dictate her actions, causes me to give this book a 4 out of 5 star rating.

*Our rating system