“The Dispreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks” by E. Lockhart
The Dispreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart had been on my to-read list for years and a recent resurgence in my reading of young-adult books bumped it to the top and oh, I’m glad it did.
To: Headmaster Richmond and the Board of Directors, Alabaster Preparatory Academy
I, Frankie Landau-Banks, hereby confess that I was the sole mastermind behind the mal-doings of the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds. I take full responsibility for the disruptions caused by the Order–including the Library Lady, the Doggies in the Window, the Night of a Thousand Dogs, the Canned Beet Rebellion, and the abduction of the Guppy.
Frankie, who over the summer gained four inches and twenty pounds, all in the right places, is a sophomore at an expensive northeast prep school. She is suddenly surrounded by boys who want her attention, and enjoys it, all the while questioning whether it’s the kind of attention she wants. She makes a gradual but believable shift from nice girl in the dorm to criminal mastermind, and it’s a blast to make it with her. This is a novel that turns the romance on its head, while still taking time to appreciate some of it along the way. But it’s also a story of a girl coming into her own power, making the shift from sweet to bitter to bittersweet, and in that it reminded me of Veronica Mars. This is a fun fast read that yet has some nice heft to it.