High school sophomore Frankie’s tired of being her blustery dad’s baby bunny and playing sweet sib to her cool big sis Zada. She’s given the opportunity to prove that she’s more than just a pretty face and a smoking’ pair of legs when she discovers the existence of a boys-only secret society at her older-than-Moses private school. A secret society that her v. popular, v. cute upperclass boyfriend Matthew just happens to be a member of. But Matthew doesn’t know that she knows he belongs to it, and the longer Frankie waits for him to tell her, the more she begins to doubt his feelings for her. If he likes her so much, then why doesn’t he trust her with his deepest, darkest secret? Meanwhile, she;s decided to teach Matthew & crew a little lesson by secretly infiltrating their “Loyal Order of the Bassett Hounds” via email and pretending to be head “dawg” Alessandro “Alpha” Tesorieri, Matthew’s best friend. Alpha’s too embarrassed to admit to the rest of the hounds that he’s not the one perpetrating the amazing pranks that are growing from Frankie’s fertile mind, and also pretty pissed that he can’t figure out who the mystery prankster is. So, who will crack first–Alpha, Frankie, or Matthew? And what will the fallout be when one of them decides to come clean? This rollicking good read, which breaks the mold on the so-called “chick lit.” genre with its crackerjack plot and refreshingly smart heroine, references all sorts of interesting trivial doodads you’re gonna wanna look up, like panopticons, P.G. Wodehouse, and “neglected positives.” It’s also by the ever-inventive E. Lockhart, who just gets better with each book. This one will easily make my top ten of the year, if not one of my favorites of ALL TIME, so go out and get it already, will ya? And don’t blame me if it’s already sold out!
Great. Now I’m desperate for this and everything else E. Lockhart has written. I can’t decide if it’s a blessing or a curse that the more I read, the more there seems to be to read. It’s made “The List”!
Luckily, this one is already out, so you should be able to get your hands on it–I read so many ARCS that sometimes I forget to post about a book when I read it. I read recently on Lockhhart’s blog that Frankie was out and I hadn’t blogged it yet, so I knew I had to get cracking! Enjoy, it’s a good one.
I got this book as an advance reader copy from my aunt who is a publisher… and loved it! It makes you feel more intelligent just reading it… and shows a new kind of feminine figure in teen literature.
I agree, Amanda–I grew brain cells just reading it! Glad to hear you enjoyed it.
I read this book and it is a definitely a top 10 book!!!
So I just have to share this because I have to share it somewhere, but I made this great discovery while I was talking this book up to a patron today. I love this book. I read it so fast it was like I’d down a pint of Ben & Jerry’s in one sitting and still didn’t know what hit me. So good! But anyway, did you notice that in this book Frankie fights against the penopticon (a term I’d heard floating around for ages, but finally “got” thanks to this book) that isn’t really there, and in The Hunger Games, Katniss gets to experience a real live kind of penopitcon experience. So are penopticons literal or figurative? Okay, that’s my moment of strange and over-deep literary connection for everyone to think on. Thanks for listening.
Thanks for sharing, Kate! I love it when books get us all thinking and writing!
E. Lockhart is my favorite author. She appeals to my sense of humor, and she writes very light, but thought-provoking reading that I think about long after I’m done reading. Thanks for putting her on the list! 🙂