You know those hypothetical questions where someone asks “If you could be any character from a book who would it be?” I have my answer now that I’ve read E. Lockhart’s “The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.” The answer is Frankie Landau Banks because she is a modern-day rabble-rouser, a provocateur, a troublemaker in the best, most playful sense of the word. Frankie Landau-Banks is a sophomore at the prestigious Alabaster Prep school in Massachusetts (think Exeter, Andover, etc.) when she learns about the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, an all-male secret society at her school. She’s fascinated with the camaraderie of the boys in it, their clubbiness, but also their exclusivity. She infiltrates the group and begins commanding them to commit a series of fantastic pranks across the school, all without them having a clue she’s the mastermind. And yet it keeps gnawing at her that the only reason she can’t be in this group is because she has boobs. Frankie is a feminist, a malcontent, someone who will always question the social order. And that’s something we need to see from time to time in young adult literature.
Published October 30th, 2009 at 5:56 am in Uncategorized with 2 comments
Tagged with disreputable history of frankie landau banks, feminist literature, Recommended Reading, young adult
One of the great traditions in book blogging is the weekly “In My Mailbox” post. I learned about this first from the prolific “Story Siren,” who was inspired by “Pop Culture Junkie.” While my “IMM” post will pale in comparison I’ll participate nevertheless!
Here are the books that arrived in my mailbox this week:
“The Cinderella Society” by Kay Cassidy: The book releases next spring and I’m pleased to report the lovely Kay signed my copy and I’ll be hosting a giveaway contest to readers once I read it! So stay tuned because this book is generating some serious girl power buzz.
“Either You’re in or You’re in the Way” by Luke and Noah Miller: This book was sent to me by a Twitter friend and it’s about a pair of brothers and the promise they made to their father to have a movie made and get Ed Harris to star in it. It’s not my usual cup of tea, but I’m eager to check it out since the brothers are local.
“Shark Girl” by Kelly Bingham: My husband picked this up for me at the library and I’m intrigued. It’s very Bethany Hamilton because it’s the story of a teen girl who loses her arm in a shark attack. I skimmed the first page and the writing popped.
“Her Fearful Symmetry” by Audrey Niffenegger: I pre-ordered this on my Kindle and it magically appeared on Tuesday morning. The first few chapters are strange, but I’m really enjoying it now…
“The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks” by E. Lockhart: The book has been on my mind for a few weeks as something I absolutely had to read. I’d seen it in bookstores, visit it on Amazon, look it up online. Finally, I said “Screw the book-buying diet” (because my TBR pile is HUGE!) and I bought it last night. I read the sample on my Kindle and it’s amazing so far. I’m going to read it after I finish “Her Fearful Symmetry.”
So that’s my mailbox. What was in yours? What are you reading?
Published October 4th, 2009 at 10:48 am in Currently Reading with 3 comments
Tagged with cinderalla society, disreputable history of frankie landau banks, e lockhart, either you're in or you're in the way, Her fearful symmetry, Kay Cassidy, Shark girl
You know those hypothetical questions where someone asks “If you could be any character from a book who would it be?” I have my answer now that I’ve read E. Lockhart’s “The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.” The answer is Frankie Landau Banks because she is a modern-day rabble-rouser, a provocateur, a troublemaker in the best, most playful sense of the word. Frankie Landau-Banks is a sophomore at the prestigious Alabaster Prep school in Massachusetts (think Exeter, Andover, etc.) when she learns about the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, an all-male secret society at her school. She’s fascinated with the camaraderie of the boys in it, their clubbiness, but also their exclusivity. She infiltrates the group and begins commanding them to commit a series of fantastic pranks across the school, all without them having a clue she’s the mastermind. And yet it keeps gnawing at her that the only reason she can’t be in this group is because she has boobs. Frankie is a feminist, a malcontent, someone who will always question the social order. And that’s something we need to see from time to time in young adult literature.
