Frindle (original 1996; edition 1998)

Quick read but very cute story about teacher-student relationships, education, language, and the power of the media. As a word nerd, I enjoyed this one. I actually now want to read more of Clements' books.


Course evaluation:

Personal Response: I love books about language and really enjoyed Frindle. Mrs. Granger is a great character, particularly as her true colors are revealed in the end. Nick’s creativity should be admired by anyone who reads this story.

Evaluation: Frindle’s greatest strength lies in the realistic portrayal of the fifth graders and how they respond to the adults in their lives. Their dialogue and attitudes are written in a convincing way that readers will not question. Though Clements mentions videocassette recorders and technology that might be dated, the theme transcends the setting by focusing on language and education. Selznick’s drawings and the chapter title font reflect the book’s perspective; the action is shown mainly from Nick’s point of view. ( )

Frindle depicts the story of Nick Allen who is determined to show his teacher that words come from everywhere. He is usually the class clown but is determined to prove this idea to his teacher. To do so, he tries to turn a regular pen into a frindle to prove his method to his teacher. This would be a good chapter book for upper elementary level readers. ( )

After learning interesting information about how to create words, Nick changes the word "pen" to "frindle" and this becomes something that is famous and everyone starts calling it that because of him.

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