Frindle by Andrew Clements Date of Publication: 1998 ISBN: 0-689-81876-9 Number of Pages: 105

REQUIRED READING ABILITY: Junior: Average Intermediate: Low
GENRES: Realism
THEMES : Good versus Evil - Coming of Age – Appearance versus Reality

SUMMARY:
Nick Allen is considered by some to be a bit of a troublemaker. He has plenty of good ideas, but adults (especially teachers), don’t always see it that way. When he is faced with the legendary English teacher of the school, Mrs. Granger, he vows not to let her get the best of him. Despite an apparent battle of wills, Nick and Mrs. Granger have a few things in common, and from her, Nick learns how words are created. Intrigued despite himself, Nick decides to experiment with a word of his own. He starts referring to a pen as a "frindle," and soon the entire school, town and eventually the country begins to also use the word. Nick does, however, encounter some resistance to his experiment – and that's when the fun begins...

WHO WOULD LOVE THIS BOOK? A kid who...
- enjoys humour
- is a reluctant reader
- enjoys pranks
- likes hanging out with friends
- is smart but likes to pretend otherwise
- likes characters who try to get the better of teachers
- enjoys words and trivia about them

WHAT ELSE?
This novel is one of many by Andrew Clements, and it alone was nominated for, or won, over thirty awards.

RELATED LINKS:
For more information about the author, check out his own website, http://www.frindle.com/.
For some analysis of the deeper elements in Frindle, check out the website,
http://www.northern.edu/hastingw/CLEMENTS.html. A great many other teacher resources can be found at http://www.webenglishteacher.com/clements.html as well.