Frindle
Written by Andrew Clements
Illustrated by Brian Selznick
Reviewed by Megan D. (age 11)
There is a boy named Nick Allen who is not a trouble maker, but he is not a good kid either. He is an inventor. Nick has a teacher named Mrs. Granger who does not like him inventing things during class. One day out of the blue Nick starts calling a pen a frindle.
The kids in his class start getting into trouble because they call the pen a frindle too! Soon, the entire school is using that word. It gets to be so popular that the newspaper reporters go to Nick's house to interview him about it. Nick becomes a hero to all the kids because they think he is clever and funny, but the teachers keep a close watch on him. Pretty soon, he is so popular that there is a sign in the city that says, "Welcome to Westfield, Home of the Original Frindle".
On the last day of school, Mrs. Granger encourages him to just be himself. Ten years later, he gets all the money he earned from the sale of frindles. He is rich! When he's at college, he receives a package from Mrs. Granger. Inside are three things, an envelope, a dictionary, and a note. It turns out that she's been helping him out the entire time.
If I could change anything in this story, I would have changed Mrs. Granger's reaction to the word frindle because it's a great word. My favorite part of the the story is when she writes a note to Nick informing him that frindle has been put in the dictionary. My favorite character is Nick because he likes to invent things and so do I. I don't like Mrs. Granger because she is too strict.
This story relates to my life because I'm always trying to come up with new ideas. I think you should read this story because it teaches you that you can be creative and you should fight for the things that you like and think are right!