Book Talk: E. Lockhart, ‘Girl in a Boy’s World’

Although I review mystery/thrillers for the most part, I read a variety of genres. Since retirement, though, mystery/thrillers are my favorites. However, as a former college prof, I do try to keep up with what’s going on with our nation’s youth. So, if you read this column weekly, you’ve read about a few YA novels. I try to choose authors who write well, regardless of plot lines. But it surprises me a bit that most of the YA books that I’ve read have been devoted to the problems and adventures of young people from affluent or “filthy rich” families.

E. Lockhart’s “The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks” (2008, 342 pages in softcover format) is — not surprisingly — about teens from very privileged backgrounds, and the main character Frankie is a young woman who, at least initially, finds herself in a male-dominated environment. But the quality of writing did not surprise me. Ms. Lockhart is a very good writer, and I’ve read three of her other YA novels: We Were Liars, Family of Liars, and Genuine Fraud. And I’m gratified to know that there are still enough young readers to keep authors like Lockhart, Holly Jackson, and Jessica Goodman busy.

Ms. Lockhart’s novel is set at Alabaster Academy, a private secondary school in the same rarified air as Groton, Choate, or Eton. Like them, it’s the kind of alma mater that opens doors to exclusive opportunities later in life. And it is home to The Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, a not-so-secret society of boys who seem to have the responsibility of performing pranks on the administration and the general student body.