Frindle

Frindle
By Andrew Clements
Publisher/Date: Aladdin 1996
# of pages: 105
reading level: ages 8-12
Genre: fiction


Summary:

Nick is a very creative student. he's known at school for his creativity and ability to distract teachers and get out of homework. however, when he begins 5th grade and has Mrs. Granger for language arts, he may have met his match. she's strict and loves her words. when he asks her a question about where words came from, she assigns him an oral report. he ends up taking up the whole class period doing his report to get back at her. however, at the end, he asks a question about why a dog is known as a dog. her reply is because everyone says so. this idea causes him to try an experiment. the experiment is to start calling a pen a frindle. he gets all his classmates to do it too which makes Mrs. Granger angry. she starts keeping kids for detention for using the word. soon, their use of the word frindle causes an uproar. the principal gets involved and talks to his parents. reporters come to talk to nick and Mrs. Granger about the issue. he goes on tv shows. Someone starts making pens with the word, frindle, printed on them. when everything dies down and it's the end of 5th grade, Nick goes to Mrs. Granger to get a letter she said she'd give him when the whole thing was over. She tells him it's not over. Nick continues through school and college, becomes rich from his frindle merchandise, and one day gets a package from Mrs. Granger. he finds that the dictionary now includes the word frindle, and her letter commends him for his creativity and for creating a word. in the end he and Mrs. Granger become friends.

Who benefits from reading this book?

Anybody who is interested in the origin of words will benefit from reading this book. it teaches quite a bit about that. this is also a good book to read for entertainment as well as an example of a creative student taking words to the next level. i think this is a well liked book, so i'd recommend it.

What problem could this book cause?

I would think this is a safe book that wouldn't cause problems. however, if i had to choose a problem it would be the fact that the students sort of rebel against the teachers and principal when they try to get detention for using the word frindle. however, in the end it's all tied together and it's said that there had to be resistance in order for the word to progress.

my reaction:

i really like this book. once again, andrew clements is one of my favorite children's authors. he does a good job, and i actually learned new things about words that i didn't know before. this was really entertaining and creative. i think it's one of those classic books that every students should read.