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

I just finished the fourth book for my Adolescent Literature class and I am really enjoying these books.

The Disreputable History... is about a teenage girl, Frankie Landau-Banks. She attends a reputable boarding school that holds great importance to her father. In the beginning of her sophomore year, she begins dating a very popular senior. She and Matthew are like the perfect couple. Frankie gets along well with Matthew and his friends but she longs for something more.

Frankie notices that Matthew inexplicably has to leave her to attend various extracurricular meetings and becomes suspicious. Her father, Franklin Banks had frequently alluded to the existence of a secret society at the school. Frankie believes that Matthew an his friends are a part of this and wants desperately wants to be included. 

I really enjoyed reading about Frankie. I grew up with five brothers and often had male friends. Like Frankie, I got along well with them but never felt that I was really included simply because I was a girl. That is something that many students can relate to, the need to belong to a group. In high school the group that you belong is a part of your identity so it is very important.

I think that this book would be a great way to make women's rights or suffrage more relatable. The secret society in the story is exclusively for males even though the school had been co-ed for decades. Matthew and his friends down play any intelligent or intriguing conversation by commenting about her looks. Her family also demean her gender, though unintentional, by calling her bunny rabbit.