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

I often find it really helpful to look at other reviews of a book I’m about to review.  It helps me solidify what I think is important about a book, and what I think isn’t important, usually as I mutter something along the lines of, “What?!”  In the case of this book (which by the way I loved) I found myself completely embroiled in the “I loved it,” “ Everyone else loved it but I didn’t” debate.  I guess it says a lot about the book that so many people have devoted so much time to blathering on about whether it c0ntains a worthy message for readers or not.  Personally, I don’t think the message overrides everything else about a book.  The writing style, in this case, is one that you will either love or hate.  It doesn’t mean it is or isn’t a good book, it’s just a matter of taste.  I happened to find it very amusing, and the character of Frankie very believable.  In case you don’t know anything about the story, it goes something like this: Frankie attends the same exclusive boarding school that her sister and their father attended.  Her family treats her like a little girl and even calls her Bunny Rabbit.  At school she made a few friends during freshman year and even had a boyfriend.  During the summer between freshman and sophomore years her body matured, and at the beginning of sophomore year she catches the eye of a senior who she has admired from afar.  Her relationship with him is magical: he adores her and she adores him and his witty friends.  It takes her a while to figure out that they accept her as an fun, attractive sidekick, but not to be taken seriously.  She discovers that her boyfriend Matthew is part of a secret, boys-only society (that her father was part of also), and although she tries to give him openings to tell her what’s going on, he never does.  The most galling thing is that every time Matthew’s friend Alpha (the head of the society) calls, Matthew goes running.  When Alpha goes away for a long weekend, Frankie decides to co-opt the society by emailing instructions purportedly from Alpha for carrying out elaborate pranks, much better pranks than the society has pulled for a long time. The thing that makes Frankie believable for me is that she goes back and forth between being annoyed at the way she is treated, and feeling warm and fuzzy and loved.  She really wants for Matthew to figure out what’s going on and tell her, “Wow, you’re really as smart and clever as we are.  We should have let you lead the society all along.”  In reality, Frankie sums it up nicely when she says to Matthew after she tells him her role in what’s happened, “Why is it psychotic if I did it, and brilliant if Alpha did it?”  The ending doesn’t wrap things up too happily; suffice it to say Frankie learns that she can’t have it all, but she can pick which part she wants to have.  Review by Stacy Church

Review of No Such Thing as the Real World: Stories about Growing up and Getting a Life

One reviewer described this collection of short stories as “uneven,” and I would have to agree with that.  In general, I love reading stories about growing up.  This anthology includes short stories by six well-known writers of fiction for young adults, a few who’ve written works I’ve read and enjoyed in the past, and a couple whose work I’ve never been able to read.  The first story, Complication by An Na, certainly held my interest, but for most of it I didn’t really understand what was going on.  Hmmm.  On to the next story -- The Projection: A Two-Part Invention by M.T. Anderson.  Ok, moving on to the next story, Survival by K.L. Going.  Now I’ve really enjoyed some of Going’s books (Fat Kid Rules the World, The Liberation of Gabriel King), so I decided to give it a go.  It was a good story, but not hugely memorable.  Next up, The Longest Distance by Beth Kephart.  Now that is a really good piece of writing.  It contains some beautiful language: “Joelle is gone.  She’s the slash of black you see just after lightning breaks the sky.  She’s the place where a cliff stops being stone and becomes the air that  you could fall through.”  The story follows Hannah in the aftermath of her best friend Joelle’s suicide, and the story is framed by Hannah’s work on her senior thesis, Time: The Great Houdini Healer.  The next story is by another of my favorite writers, Chris Lynch, and is titled Arrangements.  The set-up is certainly memorable: A high school-aged boy takes over his father’s pawn shop after his father’s death.  He learns a lot about his dad from the people who come in to the shop, in some cases more than he wants to know.  Another good story.  The last piece is The Company by Jaqueline Woodson, and again, I couldn’t really get into it.  So, all in all, is this book a success?  I guess so, because I’m certainly glad I read The Longest Distance.  Review by Stacy Church

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The World of Mirage of Blaze

Takaya Oogi is a street-smart high school student dedicated to protecting his best friend, Yuziru Narita.  The two are wrapped up in an ancient war of darkness and tragedy which began during Japan’s chaotic Warring States period.  The psychic powers of long ago find new life in the hearts of Takaya and Yuzuru.  Rival clansmen seek to destroy them, fulfilling the wishes of the long-dead warlord, Shingen Takeda.

Peach Girl: Super Pop Love Hurricane Volume 1

“An addictive tale of high school love at its most deliciously dysfunctional”    –NewType Magazine

Ah!  My Goddess

Keiichi Morisato is an engineering student, top driver of his campus motor club, and not very lucky with the ladies.  While calling for take-out food one evening, a wrong number puts him in contact with the “Goddess Hotline.”  One misplaced wish later, Keiichi finds himself blessed with Belldandy, the perfect girlfriend and a goddess in every sense of the word.  Unfortunately, she doesn’t know how to act in the human world, and her presence quickly gets Keiichi kicked out of the dorms.

Jing: King of Bandits Episodes 1 – 13

Hide your coin pouches!  No priceless bauble or exquisite jewel is safe from the leering eyes and stealthy hands of Jing, the King of Bandits.  With a heart of gold and a wisecracking, girl-crazy albatross sidekick, Jing steals his way through one exciting adventure after another!

Free PSAT & SAT PracticeTests

You are invited to attend the Princeton Review's annual Free National PSAT Test Fest on Saturday, September 26th from 12:00pm to 3:00pm. All high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are welcome to participate in this full-length, proctored PSAT test. This is a great chance to see how you will do on the PSAT without paying registration fees or having your scores count towards National Merit Scholarship qualification.

A full-length practice SAT exam is being offered as well. The SAT Practice test will take place from 12:00 PM to 4 :00 on September 26^th. Not sure how you'll score on the SAT? Find out by taking a full-length practice SAT given under the same testing conditions as the actual exam.

You will receive a comprehensive score report including an analysis of your strengths and weaknesses on Saturday October 3rd 12:00 PM -1:30 PM. The ins and outs of financial aid: college loans, scholarships, applications, and deadlines will also be discussed.

Please call 781-320-1045 for further information.

New Simpsons Book!

Simpsons Treehouse of Horror: Hoodoo Voodoo Brouhaha

Matt Groening, the toastmaster of trick-0r-treat, whips up a witches’ brouhaha of crazed clown cars, possessed cereal boxes, haunted hospitals, afterlife-binding cocktail napkin I.O.U.s, ring-driven fellowships, neighborly vampires, and costumed comic book guys, add a revenge-filled bottle of amontillado, and a rippingly good yarn from merry and bloody olde England, and you have a pleasingly putrid and asphyxiatingly amusing tome of tonsil-tickling terror and Halloween howl-arity with The Simpsons. (from the back of the book)