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Type of bind: Hardcover
EAN num: 9780786838189
ISBN number: 0786838183
Label: Hyperion Book CH
Manufacturer: Hyperion Book CH
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: March 25, 2008
Publishing house: Hyperion Book CH
Age index: Young Adult
Release Date: March 25, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 10476
Studio: Hyperion Book CH
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Product Description:
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:
Debate Club.
Her father's 'bunny rabbit.'
A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:
A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.
Frankie Landau-Banks.
No longer the kind of girl to take 'no' for an answer.
Especially when 'no' means she's excluded from her boyfriend's all-male secret society.
Not when her ex-boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she's smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew's lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.
Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:
Possibly a criminal mastermind.
This is the story of how she got that way.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I read The Boyfriend List (Readers Circle)t awhile back and enjoyed it but somehow didn't make it on to its sequel, The Boy Book: A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them (Readers Circle), or any of E. Lockhart's other titles. Then THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS came out and there was just so much buzz. And then it was named a finalist for the National Book Award. So I figured I'd better pick it up. Fortunately, Santa brought it to my home this year so I was able to jump right in.
Frankie is a sophomore at Alabaster Prep, super exclusive boarding school for the children of the elite. Ever since she was a kid, Frankie had heard her father and his cronies go on about a mysterious secret society known as the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds. Once she starts at Alabaster it becomes clear that the Order is alive and thriving and open only to males. When she suddenly gains a few curves in the right places and a snazzy new boyfriend to go with them, Frankie becomes aware in a way she hadn't been up to this point in her life. And when the darling boyfriend starts evading her all the time, haring off to locales unspecified with other guys she just knows are in the Order, she decides to follow him. What she discovers from following Matthew (and the subsequent actions she puts into motion) change Frankie (and the Order) permanently. For the better? That's up to the reader. I say yes, but the whole thing is still painful to watch.
I am a bit conflicted over this book. For a variety of reasons. I felt like it really wanted to be Secret Society Girl: An Ivy League Novel meets Looking for Alaska. Not the best combination, IMO. This wasn't helped by the fact that I kept picturing Alpha (my favorite character) as The Colonel in my head. I usually quite like third person present narration, but in this case it felt slightly contrived, particularly since Frankie never gelled into a tangible character for me. I laughed several times while reading and I liked Frankie but I didn't love her. I liked her for her dogged endeavor to wade through the ever shifting waters of a rather assaultive adolescence and an unsympathetically exclusionary pack of boys who told her they liked her but clearly didn't know her at all, nor did they seem to care to. Despite these obstacles, or perhaps because of them, she managed to carve out a place where she could be herself, free from manipulation. I liked her combative and compelling relationship with Alpha. In fact, I wanted more of that and less mooning over lackluster Matthew. But the book ended just when things were getting interesting. I suspect I would really enjoy a sequel.
Rated by buyers -
Frankie knows that she is just as smart, and probably way more clever than any of the boys in her boarding school's all-male secret society. But when her own boyfriend won't even acknowledge the possibility that she could even know the society exists, she decides to prove her worth in her own very special way. In the end, Frankie is on both the receiving and giving end of the comeuppance she was aiming for. This conclusion is both satisfying and realistic. The parts of the book that relate what she did are highly entertaining. Unfortunately, the rest of the book is a bit stilted (I think that was done on purpose, but it didn't help to know that) and repetitive.
Rated by buyers 
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Frankie Landau-Banks is underestimated by everyone, including her family, her friends, and her gorgeous boyfriend. When she gets an "in" with a very particular crowd at her prestigious boarding school, she wants permission to be in their all-male secret circle, which is something they refuse to acknowledge. With some charm, wit, and a good bit of secret keeping herself, Frankie may very well end up being the youngest con in her school's history, not to mention a brilliant mastermind. It's a story that involves secret societies, spies, set ups, and con artistry, all in the name of school pranks (or so everyone thinks).
The writing is quite clever and the characters are credible. Though this book features a female main character, I can see a wide variety of readers, both male and female, liking this book. I enjoyed reading about what Frankie's subsequent move would be. However, I found myself slightly disappointed thinking that the entire book would be about Frankie's conniving ways, when in reality it's only the last half of it. The plot points in the very first half of the book, though entertaining, may seem unnecessary. In actuality, they are absolutely critical for setting up the entire story line. Despite this, the story flows very well and keeps readers engaged. It was a really fun book to read. "The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks" kept me intrigued and I simply didn't want to put it down.
Rated by buyers 
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Frankie is about to start her sophomore year at Alabaster Prep School. A few things have changed for Frankie: her older sister has graduated and moved on to Berkeley; she's no longer seeing Porter, her very first boyfriend; and Frankie has become a knockout over the summer. When Matthew Livingston, one of the most popular seniors, finally notices and takes an interest in her, Frankie is thrilled. But although Matthew finds her adorable and pretty, Frankie wants him to see her as an equal, as a force to be reckoned with. It isn't long before Frankie begins to mastermind some of the most elaborate pranks ever performed on campus, all carried out by the secret, all-male Order of the Loyal Basset Hounds. If only they knew who was giving them orders.
I can't say how much I loved this book. The writing is clever, the story is fun, Frankie is a character you can't resist, there's a little philosophy and a lot of feminism in the mix, and a library is made to look like a giant boob. What's not to like? I think many girls/women who read this will share Frankie's frustrations - being underestimated, being told how to look and act, and the fear of being shut out just based on gender. It's not necessarily a tidy story, though I think I assumed a high-school prank book was going to be. But it's a story I definitely recommend.
This book left me very gruntled.
Rated by buyers -
First of all, I appreciate that this book had a girl-power theme, but I do not think the main character, Frankie, is a good representation of an admirable woman. Although she was intelligent and competative, she was the worst stereotype of a jealous, conniving, sneaky b----. I thought she made girls look totally bad. She was jealous that her boyfriend was in a secret all-male social club, and was insulted that she wasn't invited and that he wouldn't tell her about it. Frankie, it's a secret boys club! Start your own secret girl's club! that's my opinion. She was so annoying. If a character said something like, for example, "Boys are more agressive than girls because of their testosterone" which is true, right? (I personally believe there wouldn't be any wars if there weren't any men), she jumped all over them with a smart rebuttal. Her boyfriend couldn't even call her adorable or give her his shirt to wear without arising the questions: is he marking his territory, or does he love her for her mind? These might be good questions, but the problem I have is, I did not buy that Frankie was in love with Matthew at all, even though the book said she was; the book did not acknowledge any such thing as chemistry between them. Frankie was all sore that Matthew's buddies had higher status with him than she did; how DARE he put them before her when she's been going out with him for THREE WHOLE MONTHS! OMG! Maybe another reason I didn't connect with Frankie was the brisk tone in which the story was written. It was chronicled with a hip, journalistic brevity. My last thoughts: guys love to do guy things. They will play video games and watch sports til the end of time, and ignore their women while doing it; what's wrong with that? Frankie, ironically, seemed so needy. She went about making her point by breaking a lot of rules, and really, it was just to get the boy's attention.
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