We're aware that high school is already filled with lots of silly (and potentially unnecessary) rules, but in The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, the titular character's experience with boarding school takes that to a whole new level. The rules at Alabaster, whether spoken or unspoken, range from not traveling via underground tunnel at school to not sitting at the senior table unless seniors are already sitting there. It's a whole lot of tricky terrain for a girl to navigate, especially if she's got a bit of a problem with authority.
Questions About Rules and Order
- What are some of the rules that Frankie breaks over the course of the book? And what are the particular reasons she breaks each of those rules?
- Does Frankie's new class about the art of protest shape the way that she thinks? How so?
- What kind of unspoken rules are there at Alabaster that Frankie tries to subvert? Why does she try to subvert them?
Chew on This
Frankie's on a quest to find and define the rules that hold her back and then to subvert them.
Frankie's not breaking rules just because she can; she does so in a thoughtful manner with her pranks and tries to impart a message on the other characters. That's why her pranks are so much more impactful than what the Loyal Order had planned to begin with.