The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

ISBN: 0786838191

Hyperion Book CH; Reprint edition, 2009

Plot -Frankie Landau-Banks is growing up fast.  In the summer after her freshman year in high school at Alabaster Prep, an elite prep school in northern Massachusetts, she matures physically from her scrawny, awkward self into her young woman self.  This is not only a physical transformation; she also comes into her own as a natural feminist and crusader for justice.  When she returns to school as a sophomore, wonderful changes are afoot--gorgeous, popular Matt becomes her boyfriend and she is welcomed into his circle of popular friends.  It turns out, though, that her welcome into Matt's group only goes so far, and in fact she is often very obviously kept firmly out of his "good-old-boys"-style school club, The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds.  This, Frankie will not breach.  No one is going to tell her she can't play along, can't do exactly as she pleases simply because of her gender.  No boyfriend is worth that.  So Frankie goes about infiltrating the Bassets and wreaking havoc on their exclusive network to prove her point.

Critical Evaluation - E. Lockhart has written a character in Frankie who stands far, far out in the Chicklit genre.  Frankie Landau-Banks has arrived.  She has awkward moments and is teenager through and through, but her character does not exist to suffer in any way, shape or form.  Lockhart's determined, smart, self-reliant heroine, in contrast to so many Chick Lit protagonists' insecurity and boy-crazy focus, reminded this reader of the accepting, open-minded town David Levithan created in his book, Boy Meets Boy.  These are the setting and character we are aspiring to as a society.  They set the bar high while keeping it all very real.  Although The Disreputable History is told in third person, no intimacy or character development is sacrificed.  The only difficulty some readers may encounter in the flow of the book is the narrator's often philosophical reflections on Frankie's motivations and the events that transpire. 
About the author:  Emily Lockhart, as she has revealed her name to be after not being able to secure "elockhart" as a web address, is a professional writer who uses her own experiences only peripherally in her writing.  According to her website, when she has writer's block she skips ahead to further places in the story; she finds it easier to write more about characters she has already created; she always wanted to be a writer but was distracted by her interest in acting and then by earning her PhD from Columbia University in English Literature.
Genre - YA fiction, Chick Lit
Curriculum Ties - None readily apparent
Booktalk ideas - 

1. Frankie is officially gorgeous, and she has always been smart.  When her new equally gorgeous and fun boyfriend, Matt, shows the limit of his willingness to include Frankie in his and generations of boys' fun at their elite prep school, Frankie shows them just how far she'll go to put them in their places.
2. Read the section where Frankie first encounters the china basset hound.  Begin in pg. 125 with "They listened to music and made out on Mathew's bed for a while" and end with "You can't touch my china doggie" on pg. 126.

Reading level - According to Booklist and School Library Journal, grades 7-12.  I agree.

Challenge issues - none obvious

Why I included this book - It was chosen as a Printz Honor book, 2009, was a finalist for 2008's National Book Award for Young People's Literature, and has received a host of other honors.  Its most outstanding merit is, of course, the character of Frankie herself.  As I mentioned in the critical evaluation, she is a wonderful same-age role model to encourage today's teenage girls to find their own way through the world.