The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Theory of Surveillance: The Panopticon and our BookBrowse Review of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

About this Guide

This guide includes discussion questions intended to provoke thought and insight into the themes of the book, which include school life, feminism, friendship, gender roles, acceptance, humor, and intellectualism.


Pre-reading

Read Frankie's opening letter to the administration. Make predictions about how this letter became necessary. Discuss what kind of character you think Frankie will be.


Discussion Questions

1. Frankie undergoes both a physical and an emotional transformation in the book. Why do you think people only recognize one of them? Is it difficult for women who are beautiful to be taken seriously? Why?
2. How does Frankie first meet Alpha? Why doesn't he acknowledge their chance encounter? Matthew, too, has no memory of having met Frankie. How does this make her feel? Would you ave handled this situation similarly, or not? Why?
3. Why do you think the author chose a boarding school as the setting for the novel “that patriarchal establishment, the insular, over-privileged life”? How does the setting add to the conflicts and development of Frankie's story? What is the most interesting thing about Alabaster?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Hyperion Books for Children. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.