Saturday, December 02, 2017

Frindle: Book Review

Title: Frindle

Author: Andrew Clements

Genre: Young Readers

Publisher: Atheneum

Paperback: 105 pgs. (large print)


Nicholas Allen has plenty of ideas. Who can forget the time he turned his third-grade classroom into a tropical island, or the times he fooled his teacher by chirping like a blackbird? But now Nick's in fifth grade, and it looks like his days as a troublemaker are over.
Everyone knows that Mrs. Granger, the language arts teacher, has X-ray vision, and nobody gets away with anything in her classroom. To make matters worse, she's also a fanatic about the dictionary, which is hopelessly boring to Nick. But when Nick learns an interesting tidbit about words and where they come from, it inspires his greatest plan yet: to invent a new word. From now on, a pen is no longer a pen -- it's a frindle.
It doesn't take long for frindle to take root, and soon the excitement spreads well beyond his school and town. His parents and Mrs. Granger would like Nick to put an end to all this nonsense. But frindle doesn't belong to Nick anymore. All he can do now is sit back and watch what happens.
This quirky, imaginative tale about creative thought and the power of words will have readers inventing their own words. Brian Selznick's black-and-white illustrations enhance the humor in this unforgettable story.
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I absolutely loved this book! I don't know why I never heard of it before but it is genius! I read this little gem in less than an hour and admit that I got a little weepy (no actual tears mind you) near the end. I think that Clements does a wonderful job of bringing to life the importance of words and the difference one person can make. I also love the thinly veiled, until the end, difference a good teacher can make in the lives of her/his students.
This book is full of empowerment! I love the idea of a word spreading like wildfire—which happens more and more these day on YouTube and such things. This book is so easy to read and the story flows freely. Once I started reading I couldn't put it down b/c I wanted to see how far the Frindle would go!

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