How to use this Page

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Review by Jena Lohrbach ( Muse Book Reviews)

"Mild geek" Frankie Landau-Banks is a delightful main character who attends boarding school, is part of the debate team, and plays Ultimate Frisbee. At school, if she's recognized by anyone other than the Geek Club Conglomerate, it's as Zada's little sister. Over the summer, though, she fills out and becomes something of a knockout—which is (partly) why the campus's most eligible bachelor notices her.

Of course she's happy being Matthew Livingston's girlfriend. Well, kind of. Frankie, besides being a charming and adorable girlfriend, is also an observant, thoughtful young woman. She notices that no one (except fellow Geek Clubbers) talks to her as Frankie; she's always Livingston's girlfriend, on the fringe, not a real part of her boyfriend's group. She's "arm candy," a position with far less recognition than she wants.

And that's just a fraction of why she decides to anonymously infiltrate the campus's all-male secret society, The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, and orchestrate outrageous pranks.

This book earned its place on the shortlist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Though adults may wonder what she sees in the boys in the Order (especially Livingston), it worked for me and my inner fifteen-year-old. It's all about Frankie, who's complex enough to make up for the staticity of most of the other characters; to make the others more complex would mean adding another hundred or more pages to the book.

Girls who enjoyed John Green's Looking for Alaska will want to read this book, too.

I'm rather hoping there's a sequel to this History.


What Other Bloggers Are Saying:
[Reviews are all over the blogosphere. Here's a small sampling of recent reviews.]

Maw Books Blog: "It was good to see a girl in a role where she’s capable, intelligent, and smart enough to pull off the pranks. She was sassy and fun. But, I did have a couple of problems with the characters. I just couldn’t relate to Frankie in any way. " (read more...)

Bookshelves of Doom: "...I've been thinking about this one ever since I read it two weekends ago. This is definitely one to put on the YA Books to Hand to Adults list. " (read more...)

The Virtual Loft: "Witty, irreverent, and insightful about gender relationships and how one smart girl rewrites the old boys’ code, this is a terrific story, and my favorite one so far by the talented E. Lockhart. " (read more...)

Pinot and Prose: "I loved this book. It was funny, sarcastic, foreboding, serious, political, smart." (read more...)


More Info:

• A Cybils Finalist in the Young Adult Fiction category.
• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (March 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786838183
• ISBN-13: 978-0786838189
• Source: Review copy from publisher
  

I know I read a post somewhere recently that linked to a free online word game in which players make as many words as they can from a certain number of letters. I played the game once, but now I can't find it. Anyone know what I'm thinking of?

It wasn't Babble (a combination of Boggle and Scrabble), which we love.

It was a lot like Neopets Word Poker (my favorite Neopets game), but without the pirates.

I can't remember what it was called, nor where I saw the link. Hmm. This is...puzzling. (Ba dum bum.)

I love word games. You probably do, too. Have you played Free Rice yet? It's a vocab game, and for every word you get right, 10 grains of rice is donated to impoverished nations.

I finally tried it this morning, and it's fun! I was at vocab level 42 briefly, but some word I'd never heard of (and can't remember) stumped me and I soon found myself back at level 40.

I would say it's a good way to learn new words, but since I can't remember any of the 4 or 5 I got wrong in 5 minutes of playing, that's perhaps not true. But it is fun.

I was going to do a Thanksgiving poem, but my email is misbehaving, my website server is down, and my family holiday get-together is falling apart. So I'm a wee bit stressed.

Instead, I'll just say I'm thankful to be part of this generous, lively, supportive online world of children's writers.

I wish a joyful, peaceful Thanksgiving to each one of you.

You can have fun with words while doing something good for others through FreeRice. You’re given one word, and then a list of meanings. Choose the correct word, and 10 grains of rice are donated to a hungry person through an international aid agency. This will really test your word knowledge.

It’s like playing a word game with an instant feel-good reward–helping to donate food to people who really need it. There doesn’t seem to be any limit on how many grains of rice you can donate, which is nice. The rice is paid for by the advertisers whose names appear at the bottom of the screen. For word lovers, book lovers,writers, and readers, this is an addictive site! And you can feel good about playing. Wow.

Thank you to The Longstockings for this link.

Love word games? Check out my previous post for more great games.

This helping-to-make-a-difference easily is in the spirit of Help the World–One Click at A Time where you can help donate free books to children, free mammograms to help prevent breast cancer, free food to the hungry, help save the rainforest and protect animals–all while just making a single click with your mouse.

This post disappeared all by itself off my blog, so I’m reposting it. Apologies to anyone who’s already read it!

We all need to have fun and relax. Books are my favorite way to do that, but I also really enjoy word games–perhaps because I love words, books, and writing so much. But the word game has to appeal to me. I like word games that have good graphics, good sound effects (or the ability to turn them off), are not too easy but not too hard, and either have some humor, a good story line, or fast (but not chaotic) play.

For those of you who have trouble unwinding or letting yourself play, and not just work, think of this–word games use your mind in a positive way, and both reading and word games–anything, really, that stimulates your brain–may help slow down memory aging, as discussed in this article. So let yourself play!

Below are some of my favorite computer word games. You can play many of these games online for free, but they’re often more enjoyable to play as downloads or purchased games because then you can make the game as large as your screen. I hope you’ll find a game here that you, too, will enjoy. (Side note: These are games I truly enjoy. I do not get any money, affiliation, or bonuses by telling you about them.)

Bookworm Deluxe
Bookworm Deluxe is the first word game I found that I really enjoyed. If you like Boggle (I love Boggle), you’ll probably enjoy Bookworm. In Bookworm, you have to link connecting letters (including diagonally) to create words. The longer the word, the higher your score–but after a while, burning tiles appear on the board, and you have to make a word that includes the burning tile before it reaches the bottom, or the game ends. This game has some humor I enjoy–Bookworm eats the words you create, and burps afterwards. Bookworm is also like a Chipmunk-voiced cheerleader; he (or she) cheers you on, especially when you create large words, yelling out “awesome!” or “good job!” I love that, but if you find that annoying, you can always turn off the sound. You can play it for free on Shockwave or Yahoo Games. I’ve come back to this game many times over the years; for me, it’s a winner.

Word Craft
Word Craft is a fast-paced word game. You have to connect the tiles to form words (again, similar to Boggle), but while you work, letters are slowly cooling down, and will eventually freeze and become unusable. When so many letters on the board are frozen that you can’t create a word, the game is quickly over. The longer the words you create, the more the heat goes back up or the more you can unfreeze letters to use them. I like how quickly you have to act, and the sound and visual effects. Word Craft isn’t available to play for free online, but you can download the game and play it for free for 60 minutes from many places, including Real Arcade.

Word Krispies
Word Krispies incorporates the fun of getting a prize at the bottom of your cereal box (this appeals to the kid in me), creating words in many ways, and a storyline where you help the sister and brother get back something they lost. You have to make words out of the cereal letters in your bowl before they get soggy and sink. You can do this using your mouse or keyboard, and you can have the letters simply float or swirl. There are always various power-ups and bonus rounds that help you regain lost lives. There is also humor in the way the creators make fun of sugary cereals and how they’re not good for your body. Word Krispies isn’t available to play for free online, but you can download the game and play it for free for 60 minutes from many places, including Big Fish Games.

SandScript
SandScript involves both a knowledge of words and their meanings, and spelling. You’re given a phrase with a word missing, and you have to figure out what that particular word is. It’s a little like hangman; you click on a letter to see whether it’s included in the word or not. Each time you get it wrong, you lose a gem. You can score bonus points for making correct guesses consecutively and quickly. There are also rare gems to help you, like “reveal words” which are sometimes available. Sometimes the game too easy, but it can also be challenging. Visuals and sound effects are good. You can play SandScript for free online at PlayFirst. You have to create a free account, and use IE browser.

Bonnie’s Bookstore
Since I write children’s and teen fiction and love books, Bonnie’s Bookstore really appeals to me at first. In this game, Bonnie (your character) is trying to become a children’s author, and you help her by connecting letter tiles to make words. Each time you use a letter, the tile turns green. You have to turn all the tiles green to complete a “chapter.” Every time you create a word, you use up a turn, so you have to make all the tiles green before you run out of turns. You can also choose the level of difficulty before you play the game, which can help make it more challenging. I love the storyline and the book and writer themes running throughout the game; each level is called a chapter, and there are writer’s blocks to avoid. You also see Bonnie typing on a typewriter in between levels, with some of the story text appearing on screen. The game has some humor, with Bonnie “writing” children’s classic fairy tales such as Thumbelina. At times the game seems a little slow paced, and after a while, I lose interest–but the theme really appeals to me. Graphics and sound effects are great. You can play for free online at PopCap games.

Word Up
You have to link adjoining letters to make words, and make a certain score before you can move to the next level. The longer the word, the greater your score. This game has a lot of upbeat voices and cheering that encourage you on when you make long words–I like the positive reinforcement; it really adds to the fun of the game for me. If the music is annoying, you can turn it off. You can play Word Up online for free at Shockwave.

Those are some of my favorite word games. What are yours?

We all need to have fun and relax. Books are my favorite way to do that, but I also really enjoy word games–perhaps because I love words, books, and writing so much. But the word game has to appeal to me. I like word games that have good graphics, good sound effects (or the ability to turn them off), are not too easy but not too hard, and either have some humor, a good story line, or fast (but not chaotic) play.

For those of you who have trouble unwinding or letting yourself play, and not just work, think of this–word games use your mind in a positive way, and both reading and word games–anything, really, that stimulates your brain–may help slow down memory aging, as discussed in this article. So let yourself play!

Below are some of my favorite computer word games. Most of the games have an option to play at an easy or hard level, or slow-paced or fast. You can play many of these games online for free, but they’re often more enjoyable to play as downloads or purchased games because then you can make the game as large as your screen. I hope you’ll find a game here that you, too, will enjoy. (Side note: These are games I truly enjoy. I do not get any money, affiliation, or bonuses by telling you about them.)

Bookworm Deluxe
Bookworm Deluxe is the first word game I found that I really enjoyed. If you like Boggle (I love Boggle), you’ll probably enjoy Bookworm. In Bookworm, you have to link connecting letters (including diagonally) to create words. The longer the word, the higher your score–but after a while, burning tiles appear on the board, and you have to make a word that includes the burning tile before it reaches the bottom, or the game ends. This game has some humor I enjoy–Bookworm eats the words you create, and burps afterwards. Bookworm is also like a Chipmunk-voiced cheerleader; he (or she) cheers you on, especially when you create large words, yelling out “awesome!” or “good job!” I love that, but if you find that annoying, you can always turn off the sound. You can play it for free on Shockwave or Yahoo Games. I’ve come back to this game many times over the years; for me, it’s a winner.

Word Craft
Word Craft is a fast-paced game. You have to connect the tiles to form words (again, similar to Boggle), but while you work, letters are slowly cooling down, and will eventually freeze and become unusable. When so many letters on the board are frozen that you can’t create a word, the game is quickly over. The longer the words you create, the more the heat goes back up or the more you can unfreeze letters to use them. I like how quickly you have to act, and the sound and visual effects. Word Craft isn’t available to play for free online, but you can download the game and play it for free for 60 minutes from many places, including Real Arcade.

Word Krispies
Word Krispies incorporates the fun of getting a prize at the bottom of your cereal box (this appeals to the kid in me), creating words in many ways, and a storyline where you help the sister and brother get back something they lost. You have to make words out of the cereal letters in your bowl before they get soggy and sink. You can do this using your mouse or keyboard, and you can have the letters simply float or swirl. There are always various power-ups and bonus rounds that help you regain lost lives. There is also humor in the way the creators make fun of sugary cereals and how they’re not good for your body. Word Krispies isn’t available to play for free online, but you can download the game and play it for free for 60 minutes from many places, including Big Fish Games.

SandScript
SandScript involves both a knowledge of words and their meanings, and spelling. You’re given a phrase with a word missing, and you have to figure out what that particular word is. It’s a little like hangman; you click on a letter to see whether it’s included in the word or not. Each time you get it wrong, you lose a gem. You can score bonus points for making correct guesses consecutively and quickly. There are also rare gems to help you, like “reveal words” which are sometimes available. Sometimes the game too easy, but it can also be challenging. Visuals and sound effects are good. You can play SandScript for free online at PlayFirst. You have to create a free account, and use IE browser.

Bonnie’s Bookstore
Since I write children’s and teen fiction and love books, Bonnie’s Bookstore really appeals to me at first. In this game, Bonnie (your character) is trying to become a children’s author, and you help her by connecting letter tiles to make words. Each time you use a letter, the tile turns green. You have to turn all the tiles green to complete a “chapter.” Every time you create a word, you use up a turn, so you have to make all the tiles green before you run out of turns. You can also choose the level of difficulty before you play the game, which can help make it more challenging. I love the storyline and the book and writer themes running throughout the game; each level is called a chapter, and there are writer’s blocks to avoid. You also see Bonnie typing on a typewriter in between levels, with some of the story text appearing on screen. The game has some humor, with Bonnie “writing” children’s classic fairy tales such as Thumbelina. At times the game seems a little slow paced, and after a while, I lose interest–but the theme really appeals to me. Graphics and sound effects are great. You can play for free online at PopCap games.

Word Up
In Word Up, you make words by connecting adjacent letters. The longer the letter, the more points you get and the faster you get through that level. From the second level up, there are word tiles that temporarily light up, that, if you’re fast enough to include them in a word, double or triple your score. I really like the sound effects, but the music drives me nuts; happily, you can turn the music or sound off. This game has a lot of upbeat voices and cheering every time you make long words, which encourages you on. I love the positive reinforcement; it really adds to the fun of the game for me. You can play Word Up online for free at Shockwave.

Those are some of my favorite word games. What are yours?