The Academy

February 1, 2018

Gr 6-9-High school sophomore Frankie Brooks cares about fashion more than anything else in her suburban New England existence. She has made some bad choices prior to the opening of the narrative; the book begins with Frankie's parents telling her that she will be attending "The Academy" for the second semester of the year. She goes, determined to hate it, and slowly changes her mind and sees the value of the disciplined education The Academy provides. Along the way she makes friends and falls in love. The story is complete in itself, but the unresolved ending leaves room for a sequel. With a comfortingly predictable story line, this title will appeal to middle schoolers who are interested in light romance. The well-crafted and diverse cast includes secondary queer characters and a deaf romantic lead. However, the author relies too heavily on telling rather than showing, so the evolution of Frankie's character does not always feel quite authentic. Frankie's first-person narrative nods to her awareness of her privilege sometimes ring a bit false. However, the right reader will find much to love here. VERDICT There are not many titles featuring main characters with aspirations toward military careers, and this book will be affirming to those teens. This will be most popular in libraries that serve large populations of military families.-Kristin Lee Anderson, Jackson County Library Services, OR

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2018
A fashion-mad teen is sent to a military academy to learn discipline.Frankie knows she's meant to work in fashion: Her blog is already a huge success, and she's known for her personal style. But her parents believe that Frankie won't get far without discipline and good grades--so they ship her off to the military school her grandfather attended. Privileged, strong-willed, and obsessed with fashion, blue-eyed, white-blonde Frankie has a rude awakening at Albany Military Academy, starting with meeting stern disciplinarian Lt. Sturtevant. She has to wake up at 5 a.m., do more physical exercise than she's ever attempted before, and not break the rules--or risk being kicked out and having to repeat a year of high school back home. Frankie makes slow and unsteady progress, helped by new friends Joni (a closeted white girl) and Jack (a handsome, olive-skinned boy with cochlear implants), ultimately realizing her parents made the right decision. However, the story artificially maneuvers Frankie into having to wow Lt. Sturtevant with a leadership project proposal in order to stay at the Academy. Add in an equally contrived crisis in her relationship with Jack, and it's hard to care how Frankie's story ends.A rare realistic fiction military school novel, but it's one that won't recruit any readers. (Fiction. 12-16)

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