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The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

(2008, Fiction - Literary Fiction, Written by E. Lockhart)

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 12, age appropriate for kids over 14; suggested age 14.

  • Is it any good?

    3.0

  • Common Sense says

    Boarding school rebel story more insightful than most.

Why We Rated This on for Ages 14 and Up

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    The narrator predicts Frankie will go on to head the CIA or preside over a unit of organized criminals. She copies keys to sneak into areas off-limits to students at her exclusive boarding school, and impersonates a boy to execute a number of pranks on the school, including putting bras on all the school portraits and statues; stealing a statue and demanding a ransom; and delivering an edible basset hound to a school donor. Frankie says Matthew makes her feel squashed into a box -- "a box where she was expected to be sweet and sensitive (but not oversensitive); a box for young and pretty girls who were not as bright or powerful as their boyfriends."

  • Violence & scariness:

    Not an issue.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

Parents need to know this is fairly tame for a young adult novel, with a little cursing, a few sex references, and some beer drinking among teens. A secret society stages several elaborate pranks, but no one gets hurt. The book will appeal to well-read girls who don't mind a few vocabulary lessons tossed into their novels.

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Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the Frankie's idea of the panopticon -- what unwritten social rules do they follow at home, work, and school? Is there a social value to public displays like dressing as clowns to ride a bus? Do readers agree that Matthew doesn't really "see" Frankie? Is what she did the best way to go about getting a boyfriend or girlfriend to know who you really are?
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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Parent Reviewer
    live4tea@msn.com
    Lives in New Jersey
    I rate this title off for age 10 and give it 3.0

    Not sure what age would like this

    The vocab was out of my ten year old's league. She is a strong reader, but it was still too erudite for her. She felt it was pretentious. We read a few chapters out loud and she gave up.

    This review...

    Helped me decide | Had useful details | Read my mind
    Flag as inappropriate

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