3-5, Level 4

"Frindle" by Andrew Clements is about a fourth-grade student named Nick who challenges the authority of his teacher. Nick learns how to voice his opinion and rally the troops. I like this book because there is some on-level language and some more advanced language so the students can build their vocabulary.

This is a book after my linguist heart. Why do we use the words we do to describe the things we want to describe? Nick Allen, a 5th grader, asks that very question. When his teacher, Mrs. Granger, tells him that things are in the dictionary because someone, at some point, made them up, Nick decides to take matters into his own hands and changes the name of a "pen" to a "frindle." The word soon catches on and spreads beyond Nick's control. Mrs. Granger treats this as an issue of respecting her authority and the battle is on.

Overall, this slim children's book says a lot about language, conformity, the pressures of society, and the bravery to be a catalyst for change. The characters are well-rounded, including the authority figures, who are often painted with a broad brush in children's fiction as being the enemy--in Frindle, we see that different adults react differently to new things, and that adult reactions often have good underlying reasons. Brian Selznick's great pencil illustrations complement the text. ( )

When he decides to turn his fifth grade teacher's love of the dictionary around on her, clever Nick Allen invents a new word and begins a chain of events that quickly moves beyond his control.

"Frindle" is a witty and thought-provoking novel that celebrates the creativity and imagination of children and the importance of questioning the status quo.