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Her personal history isn't really that disreputable at all; it's really the Basset Hounds.
Book #21: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Author: E. Lockhart
Provenance: Borrowed from Westmount Library
It's dangerous sometimes to pick up books because of gushing. Your expectations come in maybe too high. And for a book like this one, where I came to it from a super-literary book tournament (aptly named the Tournament of Books) as an example of a young adult novel that really can stand up with the best in fiction overall, it's perhaps more so. I'm quite open-minded regarding YA stuff, anyway - reading these reviews, something like that's pretty clear by now. But if it's something getting the royal treatment from a bunch of people inclined to see YA as beneath their notice, well, one can't help get the sense that something's really going to be awesome, and then wait for the backlash when you get down to the reading.
But then I actually read it, and... no, it really was just that good. Seriously, just a great, fast, exciting read from top to bottom, and I threw it up on my favorites list about ten seconds after I finished reading it. So apparently, that makes it my turn to gush? I can do some gushing.
Here's our story: Frankie Landau-Banks is a newly-minted sophomore at Alabaster, an elite New England boarding school, and her life is changing. In her freshman year, she dealt with her older sister's friends, and made a few of her own through debate club. During the summer break, though, she developed into a beauty, and now she's attracted the attention of a senior boy, Matthew Livingston, who she's had eyes for since she arrived at the school, and makes her way more into his group of friends. He's a pretty good boyfriend, but his attention is divided between her and his best friend, Alessandro Tesorieri, or Alpha, as he's known. What pull does Alpha have with Matthew? As Frankie looks into it, her knowledge of school history through her father's attendance there comes into play, and she decides to embark on a plan to show what her position at Alabaster can really be.
It's hard not to get into spoilers by describing further, but this book really excels on all fronts: plot, writing, character, and themes, all are stellar. Really, I loved the characters, and found them really believable - further, Frankie and Matthew both really love words and their use, and that's a sure way into my heart. Frankie in particular stands out to me: she wants to find her place, and be recognized for the person she is and the talent she has, to really attract attention, and she wants some adventure, but she's also a teenager who likes hanging out with the cool older kids and having a cute, attentive boyfriend, and she has to reconcile these different thoughts and impulses to figure out what she really wants. Matthew and Alpha are both quite well-drawn, too. In a different book, getting together with Matthew, a sporty, upper-class who does want to help Frankie and is generally a stand-up guy, would be the goal. Getting together with him would be the end of the story, a happy ending for Frankie.
In this book, though, what happens is really a good look at privilege and sexism, even among people who probably wouldn't really see themselves as all that privileged or sexist. It's about some of the ways in which women are excluded from participating in various forms of society, how boys and girls may see things differently, and the different reactions one can have to the leftover sexism in the world. Alongside some straight-up discussion, all these telling details add up to this view, little metaphorical hits - Matthew's thick glasses, the way he seems to like her best when she fits into the mold he has her in. And the ways that people respond to her trying to take a place in the hierarchy, who notices her and who doesn't... it's really interesting, and it doesn't come across as heavy-handed at all.
I really enjoyed the writing, as well - it's exciting, fast and sharp, witty and fun, but when it takes a turn for the serious, Lockhart still sells it. I'm definitely going to try some of her other books, too, after this one. She has a sure feel of the story she wants to get across, and she really draws you into this world, so bound with tradition, but ripe for some more changes, beyond the ones it's already allowed. And Frankie can effect changes: she's actually quite good at it. She just needs to find the way.
Bottom line: this book was amazing. Probably the second best book of the year thus far for me. I would give a copy of this to every teenage girl I know, but this is limiting; I think this is a book that I'd give to just about anyone, as long as they've got an open mind about YA. And even if they don't, maybe this is a book that can crack the facade and show what the genre (if that's what it is) can do.
Next up: The Miseducation of Cameron Post.
Book #21: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Author: E. Lockhart
Provenance: Borrowed from Westmount Library
It's dangerous sometimes to pick up books because of gushing. Your expectations come in maybe too high. And for a book like this one, where I came to it from a super-literary book tournament (aptly named the Tournament of Books) as an example of a young adult novel that really can stand up with the best in fiction overall, it's perhaps more so. I'm quite open-minded regarding YA stuff, anyway - reading these reviews, something like that's pretty clear by now. But if it's something getting the royal treatment from a bunch of people inclined to see YA as beneath their notice, well, one can't help get the sense that something's really going to be awesome, and then wait for the backlash when you get down to the reading.
But then I actually read it, and... no, it really was just that good. Seriously, just a great, fast, exciting read from top to bottom, and I threw it up on my favorites list about ten seconds after I finished reading it. So apparently, that makes it my turn to gush? I can do some gushing.
Here's our story: Frankie Landau-Banks is a newly-minted sophomore at Alabaster, an elite New England boarding school, and her life is changing. In her freshman year, she dealt with her older sister's friends, and made a few of her own through debate club. During the summer break, though, she developed into a beauty, and now she's attracted the attention of a senior boy, Matthew Livingston, who she's had eyes for since she arrived at the school, and makes her way more into his group of friends. He's a pretty good boyfriend, but his attention is divided between her and his best friend, Alessandro Tesorieri, or Alpha, as he's known. What pull does Alpha have with Matthew? As Frankie looks into it, her knowledge of school history through her father's attendance there comes into play, and she decides to embark on a plan to show what her position at Alabaster can really be.
It's hard not to get into spoilers by describing further, but this book really excels on all fronts: plot, writing, character, and themes, all are stellar. Really, I loved the characters, and found them really believable - further, Frankie and Matthew both really love words and their use, and that's a sure way into my heart. Frankie in particular stands out to me: she wants to find her place, and be recognized for the person she is and the talent she has, to really attract attention, and she wants some adventure, but she's also a teenager who likes hanging out with the cool older kids and having a cute, attentive boyfriend, and she has to reconcile these different thoughts and impulses to figure out what she really wants. Matthew and Alpha are both quite well-drawn, too. In a different book, getting together with Matthew, a sporty, upper-class who does want to help Frankie and is generally a stand-up guy, would be the goal. Getting together with him would be the end of the story, a happy ending for Frankie.
In this book, though, what happens is really a good look at privilege and sexism, even among people who probably wouldn't really see themselves as all that privileged or sexist. It's about some of the ways in which women are excluded from participating in various forms of society, how boys and girls may see things differently, and the different reactions one can have to the leftover sexism in the world. Alongside some straight-up discussion, all these telling details add up to this view, little metaphorical hits - Matthew's thick glasses, the way he seems to like her best when she fits into the mold he has her in. And the ways that people respond to her trying to take a place in the hierarchy, who notices her and who doesn't... it's really interesting, and it doesn't come across as heavy-handed at all.
I really enjoyed the writing, as well - it's exciting, fast and sharp, witty and fun, but when it takes a turn for the serious, Lockhart still sells it. I'm definitely going to try some of her other books, too, after this one. She has a sure feel of the story she wants to get across, and she really draws you into this world, so bound with tradition, but ripe for some more changes, beyond the ones it's already allowed. And Frankie can effect changes: she's actually quite good at it. She just needs to find the way.
Bottom line: this book was amazing. Probably the second best book of the year thus far for me. I would give a copy of this to every teenage girl I know, but this is limiting; I think this is a book that I'd give to just about anyone, as long as they've got an open mind about YA. And even if they don't, maybe this is a book that can crack the facade and show what the genre (if that's what it is) can do.
Next up: The Miseducation of Cameron Post.
