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

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Review by Jena Lohrbach ( Muse Book Reviews)

"Mild geek" Frankie Landau-Banks is a delightful main character who attends boarding school, is part of the debate team, and plays Ultimate Frisbee. At school, if she's recognized by anyone other than the Geek Club Conglomerate, it's as Zada's little sister. Over the summer, though, she fills out and becomes something of a knockout—which is (partly) why the campus's most eligible bachelor notices her.

Of course she's happy being Matthew Livingston's girlfriend. Well, kind of. Frankie, besides being a charming and adorable girlfriend, is also an observant, thoughtful young woman. She notices that no one (except fellow Geek Clubbers) talks to her as Frankie; she's always Livingston's girlfriend, on the fringe, not a real part of her boyfriend's group. She's "arm candy," a position with far less recognition than she wants.

And that's just a fraction of why she decides to anonymously infiltrate the campus's all-male secret society, The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, and orchestrate outrageous pranks.

This book earned its place on the shortlist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Though adults may wonder what she sees in the boys in the Order (especially Livingston), it worked for me and my inner fifteen-year-old. It's all about Frankie, who's complex enough to make up for the staticity of most of the other characters; to make the others more complex would mean adding another hundred or more pages to the book.

Girls who enjoyed John Green's Looking for Alaska will want to read this book, too.

I'm rather hoping there's a sequel to this History.


What Other Bloggers Are Saying:
[Reviews are all over the blogosphere. Here's a small sampling of recent reviews.]

Maw Books Blog: "It was good to see a girl in a role where she’s capable, intelligent, and smart enough to pull off the pranks. She was sassy and fun. But, I did have a couple of problems with the characters. I just couldn’t relate to Frankie in any way. " (read more...)

Bookshelves of Doom: "...I've been thinking about this one ever since I read it two weekends ago. This is definitely one to put on the YA Books to Hand to Adults list. " (read more...)

The Virtual Loft: "Witty, irreverent, and insightful about gender relationships and how one smart girl rewrites the old boys’ code, this is a terrific story, and my favorite one so far by the talented E. Lockhart. " (read more...)

Pinot and Prose: "I loved this book. It was funny, sarcastic, foreboding, serious, political, smart." (read more...)


More Info:

• A Cybils Finalist in the Young Adult Fiction category.
• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (March 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786838183
• ISBN-13: 978-0786838189
• Source: Review copy from publisher
  

The Hanging Woods by Scott Loring Sanders

The Hanging Woods by Scott Loring Sanders
Reviewed by Jena Lohrbach (Muse Book Reviews)



The word that’s run through my mind since I started The Hanging Woods: Sociopathic.

From page one, the narrator is clearly someone I wouldn’t want to run into. Ever. All the main characters are unhinged. Jimmy, with his abusive dad, has grown into a mean adolescent. Mothball’s the fat kid who gets picked on. He seems pretty mild-mannered, but then he decides to try to break the record for the world’s longest-lived headless chicken. (That means he has to cut the head off a chicken but leave the brainstem intact. As you might imagine, he’s not successful on the first couple of tries.) And Walter, our narrator—well, he can try to blame it on a lot of circumstances.

Once it’s been established just how horrible these three young men are (it takes the first half of the book), that’s when people start dying.

I wouldn’t recommend The Hanging Woods to anyone I know.* This book made me frightened at the prospect of having sons. It might be okay for a teen guy audience—the voice is frighteningly authentic, but I’m sure that as a teen, I wouldn’t have liked this book one bit. I kind of wish I’d quit reading it when the notion first struck me, but I kept hoping for something redemptive, something to make the discomfort of imagining these characters worthwhile. No such luck.

*Clearly, though, readers at Amazon disagree with me; it gets a few five-star reviews there.



What Other Bloggers Are Saying:

A Patchwork of Books: "Enjoyable, though heartbreakingly so, both young men and women will enjoy this possible classic-in-the-making." (read more...)

Notes from the Handbasket: "It's a vibrant, gritty portrait of boys struggling to become men. " (read more...)

Read Arizona: "I recommend this book to readers who are mature enough to handle the content. " (read more...)

Becky's Book Reviews: "I prefer my narrators a bit more sane. HOWEVER I know that some readers will appreciate this one. It is well written. If it had been poorly written, I wouldn't have found the strength to keep reading. " (read more...)


More Info:

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; 1 edition (March 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618881255
• ISBN-13: 978-0618881253
• Source: Review copy from publisher
  

Northlander (Tales of the Borderlands #1) by Meg Burden

I'm pleased to present Jena Lohrbach's first book review at The Well-Read Child. Check out more of Jena's reviews at Muse Book Reviews.

Northlander (Tales of the Borderlands #1) by Meg Burden

Ellin Fisher is a Master Healer’s daughter, and she has never doubted that she, too, will become a Healer. One night, she finds herself in a room with the sick Northlander king. Without her father for guidance and knowing that she’s breaking Northlander laws, Ellin tries to heal him anyway. For her efforts, she gains the gratitude of the princes and is welcomed as their guest while their father recovers completely under her father’s skilled care. The king, however, is none too pleased that his health has been returned to him by Southling healers, and sentences them to imprisonment. And that’s just the beginning of Ellin’s story.

Meg Burden spins a compelling tale, much in the vein of Cynthia Voigt’s YA fantasy novels, though not quite as polished in the final results. Prejudice, the main theme, is tightly woven into every page, which adults might find tiresome but which probably wouldn’t have bothered me a bit when I was eleven. My one complaint is that Burden felt the need to put a romantic spin on one of the many relationships Ellin has in the book; that kiss scene detracted from the story more than anything else in the book.

If you know a tween girl who likes fantasy, this would be a logical choice for her. Plus, it’s the first in a series, so she’ll have more Tales of the Borderlands books to look forward to.


More Info:

• Age range: 9-12
  
• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Brown Barn Books (October 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976812681
• ISBN-13: 978-0976812685