Frindle

Author: Andrew Clements

Publication Year: 1996

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Summary: Nick Allen, a boy in Mrs. Granger's fifth grade English class creates a new word as part of his research paper about the history of the dictionary. The word is "frindle," which is another name for pen. Mrs. Granger opposes the word throughout the story, but has a reasoning behind her actions. By the stories end, Nick is a wealthy college student earning his money from marketing the word frindle. He receives a package while in college from Mrs. Granger, and enclosed is a dictionary with marked page, indicating the frindle has made its way into the dictionary. Accompanied with the dictionary is a letter stating how proud she is of Nick's accomplishment.

Reflection: I liked this book because the main character Nick Allen is someone I could relate to. The feud between him and Mrs. Granger makes you pull for him throughout the entire story and reading the final page of the book makes you rethink your original beliefs about the then grouchy Mrs. Granger. I look forward to reading more books by Andrew Clements as I have enjoyed reading The Landry News, Lunch Money, The School Story, The Janitor's Boy, A Week in the Woods and The Report Card.