Frindle

Title: “Frindle”

Author: Andrew Clements

Genre: Realistic Fiction  

Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks

Copyright Date: 1996

Pages in Book: 105 pages

Reading Level: 3-6 grade

Summary: Nicholas Allen (Nick) has the famously disliked teacher Mrs. Granger. One day he decides to start wasting time in class by asking the teacher what every word means. This sparks his attention and inventively creates the word “frindle”, another word for pen. It isn’t long before all the students in the school begin using this word. Unfortunately, Mrs. Granger doesn’t like/approve of this book, and every time a student uses the words, she has them stay after school. Only problem is, practically every single student in the school says this word now, and they’re all forced to stay after. The principal decides to visit Nick’s house to try and stop him from using the word, but it’s too late. Men and women outside of the schoolyard have picked up the word, and it’s now out of Nick’s control. The book fast forwards to when Nick is an adult, and he receives a package in the mail from his fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Granger. Inside the package is a dictionary with the word “frindle” in it. She admits that she actually liked the word “frindle” and congratulates him on the fact that it’s now in the dictionary.

Reaction: I thought this was a cute book, and cleverly written. I think it’s quite hard to come up with a new word, so I was impressed with this young boy’s imagination. I wasn’t a huge fan of the book though.

Recommendation: Personally, I would recommend this book more to boys than girls. I just think that they would be more interested in it.

Potential Problems/Conflicts: I thought it was rather hard to get into, and for me, it was really slow.