Frindle

Clements, Andrew. Frindle. Simon & Schuster, 1996. Tr. $15.00,  ISBN 0-689-80669.

What’s it about?

Nick Allen is full of ideas, and his latest is to create a new entry in the lexicon. Need to jot down a note? Don’t grab a pen, grab a frindle!

Find out more:

Nick Allen is an idea man, but he’s afraid that his ideas will be squelched by his fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Granger, who is a strict dictionary aficionado.  When Nicholas tries his usual ploy to distract the teacher during the last few minutes of class so they won’t assign homework, Mrs. Granger instead assigns him a report on dictionaries, in answer to his question, “where did all the words come from?” in dictionaries. Indignant Nick researches his question, and the next day presents an epic report intending to suck up the entire class. He nearly succeeds, but the class is saddled with their usual homework load. During his report, he asks Mrs. Granger again why words mean different things. Mrs. Granger explains that we decide what goes in the dictionary.  Nick mulls this, and later that afternoon, has an “aha!” moment when he picks up a pen his friend has dropped. It’s not a pen, he declares. It’s a FRINDLE!  The word catches on quickly, and soon Mrs. Granger becomes frustrated and disciplines children using this word instead of pen. At that moment, pens stop being pens and are frindles.  The children rebel, and take pride in their frindle-induced detentions. Soon parents and the school board get involved, and the media (including Letterman!) is not far behind. Frindles even rake in a large profit when a local entrepreneur realizes the power of this subversive brand.

This is an excellent novella to hand to upper-elementary students. It’s a book about how language is living, malleable, and constantly changing.  It’s a book about character, as well.  Some people may not like the challenge to authority, but the challenge is an etymological challenge, and the thrust of this book is not negative.  Nicholas becomes extremely wealthy—and generous-- when the trust fund his dad set up with all the frindle merchandise profits becomes his at the age of 21.  He does buy himself some nice things—a fast computer, a mountain bike, some games-- but he also gifts his parents, older brother and niece, and sets up a one million dollar scholarship in Mrs. Granger’s name.  This book is a feel-good book, and a fun read that challenges our notions of language.  Mrs. Granger’s need to cast herself as the villain was a funny twist, and so is Selnick’s illustration of Nick on the David Letterman show.  Clemens has penned –er, frindled a winner!

Reading level: 5^th grade

Interest level: Grades 3-6

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Humor

Subjects: Dictionaries, Words, Classrooms, Teachers, Inventions, Semantics

Awards:

Christopher Award (1997)

Rebecca Caudill Young Reader’s Award (1999)

Texas Children’s Crown Award (1999)

Read-alikes:

Avi’s Nothing but the Truth

Dahl’s Matilda

Characters:

Mrs. Granger—Nick’s fifth-grade teacher, a dictionary aficionado

Nicholas Allen—the protagonist, the inventor of the word “Frindle”

Mrs. Chatham—the principal of Lincoln Elementary