Review Detail

Frankie Landau-Banks is not satisfied being the cute high school sophomore who needs protecting by her boyfriend. Shes not satisfied that shes not taken seriously by her family or friends. Shes not satisfied that shes excluded from Alabaster Prep Schools all male Loyal Order of the Bassets, even though her father was a member. Even her boyfriend, Matthew, is a member, but he wont admit or discuss it because its that secret. Hes even co-king, along with Alpha.

Frankie never gets alone time with Matthew because hes always either with all his Bassett friends or on callevery time Alpha calls, Matthew runs off with some feeble excuse, leaving her high and dry. Matthews correcting her grammar rather than listening to what she has to say, is the last straw. Its time for revengeor to prove a point.

And the opportunity arises. The Bassets always pull a Halloween prank at Alabaster. But this years prank is lame by any standard. When Alpha is forced to go to a spa, incommunicado, with his loony mother for four days over Halloween, Frankie seizes control. She sets up a phony e-mail account and under the guise of Alpha, directs the Bassets in an ingenious prank. It works so well, she proceeds to organize several more over the following weekspranks with panache, pranks making a statement, pranks with purpose. It all works well---until Alpha mistakenly gets caught.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is Lockharts best book. It is extremely well written. Theres action, romance, humor. It tells a great story, but it also has a moral. Should a young girl be satisfied with the status quo, just because shes a girl? Can she be taken seriously as a thinker, do-er, planner? Can she change the world? Should she want to change the world? Frankie is a character youll want to know, maybe even want to be. Youll love and also hate Matthew and the other Bassets. Trust me. You wont want to put this book down. This is a must read.