‘Girl Power’ is aphrase that was used to death in the late 1990s, and has now lost allmeaning to the current generation.  But if real ‘Girl Power’ was tomake a comeback, I think the story of Frankie Landau-Banks and herparticipation in the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds would be worthyof the label. 

Frankie is a quirky girl from a relatively well off family.  Sheattends a private boarding school, Alabaster, and is just about tobegin her sophomore year.  The semester is off to a a good start whenshe bumps into Mathew Livingston, the boy she had a crush on all lastyear.  The two become a couple but Frankie soon learns she must shareMathew with his group of friends, headed by Allesandro, Alpha to hisfriends.  Tired of being ditched by Mathew whenever Alpha calls,Frankie decided to follow him to see where he runs off to.  Shediscovers the world of the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, a secretsociety for (rich) boys only.  But Frankie doesn’t get angry, sheinstead tries to figure out how she can infiltrate this powerful andexclusive group.

This book is a fast, quick read with memorable characters anda lot of surprises.  What could easily turn into a story of a jealousgirlfriend trying to reclaim her man instead becomes a story aboutpower – what it means, who has it, and how the rest of us can get it. It is a story of ambition.  It is a story of relationships – not justdating, but the strong friendships and bonds we have with certainpeople and what function they serve.  It is the story of theDisreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.