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

Having earned starred reviews and national booklist honors, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart caught my attention. As I read book reviews and articles about YA authors, this one was mentioned often - months after I had purchased it for our BHS library. I added it to my stack of books to read and off we went on Spring Break.

Her freshman year Frankie, as most freshmen, is finding her way at her exclusive boarding school high school, Alabaster Prep Academy. By her sophomore year she's being noticed by upperclassmen and she grows from geeky to beautiful, awkward to confident, then wants to be included in their friends circle.

Frankie has an interest in the quirky use of words. Shouldn't the opposite of disgruntled be gruntled? The opposite of inept be ept? What would those words mean? She uses these 'new' words baffling her friends. I delighted in the author's inclusion of this into Frankie's personality. If you enjoy word usage games, you'll also enjoy this quirky side of Frankie.

She also takes on the all boys, long-standing, secret society at Alabaster. Using a fake email address, she secretly directs the boys of the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds (to which her father also belonged) to take on campus-wide pranks. Throw in a love interest, a distant sister, best friends, curfew violations, sneaking through the campus underground tunnels, and you'll find yourself captivated by Frankie's genius pranks and high school life.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm

Hard Truth by Nevada Barr

Summertime is always the time for a good mystery. How about one that keeps you on the edge of your seat, afraid to fall asleep, and your muscles tense? Try Hard Truth by Nevada Barr for just that type of suspenseful thriller.

National Park Ranger Anna Pigeon has arrived at her new post in Colorado in the Rocky Mountain National Park. She is one tough woman and she'll need all of her stamina for this job, stamina and strength she wasn't expecting to need. Three young girls have been missing and in spite of thorough searches of the park, have not been found until the day two of them stumble out of the woods into Wiley, a most welcoming dog. The girls have a dazed look, disheveled, unfed, non-communicative, and very frightened. Wiley's owner, Heath Jarrod, is wheelchair bound following a tragic climbing accident. She's angry and depressed by the new life confined to a chair. One of the girls is immediately drawn to Heath and Heath finds herself concerned and caring for the girls, especially Beth.

The girls' parents are contacted, they are elated, but will not permit the girls to speak with authorities at all. In fact, the girls are from a religious cult that keeps them cloistered in the compound. Anna and Heath learn the girls were on a camping trip with a trusted member of their religious cult when they were lured away by a serial killer working as a park ranger.

As these two situations unfold and become intertwined, the suspense builds. Anna is not aware, as the new supervising ranger, that one of her junior rangers can not be trusted. Against the backdrop of all that nature offers in a national park setting, you will connect with these characters as they face unimaginable peril.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm