Frindle

**Summary/Review**
At Lincoln Elementary school, Nick Allen is Infamous. He is an "idea man" and the ideas he has benefit everyone involved; like the time he turned his entire classroom into a tropical beach in 3rd grade. But when he hits 5th grade and has to go face-to-face with the "Lone Granger" (Mrs. Granger), Nick's antics are put on hold...at least for a few days. But then Nick's biggest and best idea comes about when he learns some pretty interesting news regarding word origins and who ultimately decided what word matches with what "thing". Throughout the year, Nick and some of his classmates vow to never again use the word "pen" but instead, replace it with the word "frindle". Nick may have started this game with Mrs. Granger innocently, but soon Lincoln Elementary, Nick's life, and the entire world change, and there's nothing Nick seems to be able to do about it. Ride along the frindle roller coaster with Nick and find out who wins the word battle; will it be Pen or Frindle? //(2)//

//(3)//

About the Author
Andrew Clements was born in 1949 in Camden, New Jersey. He moved with his family to Springfield, IL when he was in sixth grade and he later attended Northwestern University in the Chicago-land suburbs. After Graduation, and receiving his masters form National Lewis (also in the Chicago-land suburbs), Clements taught for seven years in Public schools just North of Chicago. After starting a family and deciding that teaching was not for him, he held some other jobs and ultimately decided to write his first novel. //Frindle// was published in 1996 and has become his most successful novel yet. Today he lives with his wife in their Massachusetts home where he continues to write. //(1)// //"Sometimes kids ask how I've been able to write so many books. The answer is simple: one word at a time. Which is a// //good lesson, I think. You don't have to do everything at once. You don't have to know how every story is going to end.// //You just have to take that next step, look for that next idea, write that next word. And growing up, it's the same way.// //We just have to go to that next class, read that next chapter, help that next person. You simply have to do that next// //good thing, and before you know it, you're living a good life."//-Andrew Clements

**About the Illustrator**
Brian Selznick was born in 1966 in East Brunswick Township, New Jersey. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design and after graduation, he worked as an illustrator/window decorator with Eeyore's Books for Children. During this time he was also writing his own book, //The Houdini Box.// Selznick has written several other books and illustrated dozens more. in 2008, he received a Caldecott Medal for his book //The Invention of Hugo Cabret//. This particular story has inspired many and he has said "//The Invention of Hugo Cabret// is by far the longest and most involved book I’ve ever worked on." It is also said to be turned into a film, opening in 2011, and directed by Martin Scorsese. Selznick currently lives in Brooklyn, NY and San Diego, CA. //(7,8)//

//(4) (5)// //Photos: The photos on the left is Andrew Clements and on the right is Brian Selznick//

Other Works
(By Andrew Clements) //(6)// (As Andrew Elborn) //Bird Adalbert//, Picture Book Studio (Saxonville, MA), 1985. (As Andrew Elborn) //Noah and the Ark and the Animals//, illustrated by Ivan Gantschev, Picture Book Studio (Saxonville, MA), 1987. [|__//Big Al//__] (miniature book), illustrated by Yoshi, Picture Book Studio (Saxonville, MA), 1989. //Santa' Secret Helper//, illustrated by Debrah Santini, Picture Book Studio (Saxonville, MA), 1990. //Temple Cat//, illustrated by Alan Marks, Picture Book Studio, 1991, illustrated by Kate Kiesler, Clarion (New York, NY), 1996. //Mother Earth's Counting Book//, illustrated by Lonni Sue Johnson, Picture Book Studio, 1992. //Billy and the Bad Teacher//, illustrated by Elivia Savadier, Picture Book Studio, 1992. //Who Owns the Cow?//, illustrated by Joan Landis, Clarion (New York, NY), 1995. //Bright Christmas: An Angel Remembers//, illustrated by Kate Kiesler, Clarion (New York, NY), 1996. (Adapter)//Philipp's Birthday Book//, illustrated by Hanne Turk, North-South Books, 1996. //Riff's BeBop Book//, Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 1996. //Real Monsters Go for the Mold!//, illustrated by Matthew Stoddart, Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 1997. //Things That Go EEK on Halloween//, illustrated by George Ulrich, Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 1997. //Real Monsters Stage Fright//, illustrated by Matthew Stoddart, Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 1997. //Music Time, Any Time!//, illustrated by Tom Leigh, Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 1997. //Double Trouble in Walla Walla//, illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 1997. //Workshop//, illustrated by David Wisniewski, Clarion (New York, NY), 1998. //Gromble's Haunted Halloween//, Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 1998. //Hey Dad, Could I Borrow Your Hammer?//, illustrated by Jackie Snider, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 1999. [|__//The Landry News//__], (middle-grade novel), illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca, Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 1999. //Look Who's in the Thanksgiving Play!//, illustrated by Mavis Smith, Little Simon (New York, NY), 1999. //The Mouse Family//, illustrated by Simon Galkin, Little Simon (New York, NY), 2000. [|__//The Janitor's Boy//__], Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 2000. //Circus Family Dog//, illustrated by Sue Truesdell, Clarion (New York, NY), 2000. //The Christmas Kitten//, illustrated by Simon Galkin, Little Simon (New York, NY), 2000. [|__//The School Story//__], illustrated by Brian Selznick, Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 2001. [|__//Things Not Seen//__] (middle-grade novel), Philomel (New York, NY), 2002. //The Jacket// (originally serialized in Boston Globe), illustrated by McDavid Henderson, Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 2002. [|__//A Week in the Woods//__], Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 2002. //Slippers at Home//, illustrated by Janie Bynum, Dutton (New York, NY), 2004. //Naptime for Slippers//, illustrated by Janie Bynum, Dutton (New York, NY), 2004. [|__//The Report Card//__], illustrated by Brian Selznick, Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 2004. [|__//The Last Holiday Concert//__], Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 2004. //Slippers at School//, illustrated by Janie Bynum, Dutton (New York, NY), 2005. //Slippers Loves to Run//, illustrated by Janie Bynum, Dutton (New York, NY), 2005. //A Million Is a Lot of Dots//, illustrated by Rob Roth, Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 2005. [|__//Lunch Money//__], Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 2005. [|__//Things Hoped For//__], Philomel Books(New York, NY), 2006 [|__//Room One: A Mystery or Two//__], Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 2006 [|__//No Talking//__], Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 2007 [|__//Things That Are//__], Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 2008 [|__//Lost and Found//__], Atheneum Books (New York, NY), 2008 [|__//Extra Credit//__], Simon and Schuster (New York, NY), 2009 [|__//We the Children//__], Atheneum Books (New York, NY), 2010 //Fear Itself//, Atheneum Books (New York, NY), 2011

(By Brian Selznick) //(7)// //Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride: Based on a True Story//, Author: [|__Pam Munoz Ryan__] //Barnyard Prayers//, Author: Laura Goodwin //The Boy Who Longed for a Lift//, Author [|__Norma Farber__] //The Dinosaurs of// [|__//Waterhouse Hawkins//__], Author: Barbara Kerley //Doll Face Has a Party//, Author [|__Pam Conrad__] [|__//The Doll People//__], Author: [|__Ann M. Martin__] and Laura Goodwin //The Dulcimer Boy//, Author: Tor Seidler [|__//The Landry News//__], Author: [|__Andrew Clements__] (Paperback) [|__//Lunch Money//__], Author: [|__Andrew Clements__] //Marley's Ghost//, Author [|__David Levithan__] [|__//The Meanest Doll in the World//__], Author: [|__Ann M. Martin__] and Laura Goodwin //Our House: Stories of Levittown//, Author: [|__Pam Conrad__] //Riding Freedom//, Author: [|__Pam Munoz Ryan__] //The Runaway Dolls//, Author: [|__Ann M. Martin__] and Laura Goodwin [|__//The School Story//__], Author: [|__Andrew Clements__] //Walt Whitman: Words for America//, Author: Barbara Kerley //When Marian Sang//, Author: [|__Pam Munoz Ryan__] //Wingwalker//, Author: [|__Rosemary Wells__] //Wonderstruck//, Author: Brian Selznick (2011) [|__//The Invention of Hugo Cabret//__], Author: Brian Selznick (2007) //Boy of a Thousand Faces//, Author: Brian Selznick (2000) //The Robot King//, Author: Brian Selznick (1995) //The Houdini Box//, Author: Brian Selznick (1991)

Awards
1997 Christopher Award Rhode Island Children's Book Award 1998 Judy Lopez Memorial Honor Book (L.A.)Award 97 Great Stone Face Book Award (NH)1997-1998 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award (IL)1999 Massachusetts Children's Book Award 1998-1999 William Allen White Children's Book Award (KS)1998-1999 Georgia Children's Book Award, 1998-1999 1998-99 Maud Hart Lovelace Award, MN Youth Rdg. Award Sasquatch Children's Book Award (WA) 1999 1999 South Dakota Prairie Pasque Award Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award, (AR)1998-99 Premio Cassa di Risparmio di Cento di Letteratura per Ragazzi, 1998, Cento, Italy 1998-99 Nevada Young Readers'Award 1998-99 North Carolina Children's Choice Award Pacific NW Lib.Assn.- Young Reader's Choice 1999 (WA,OR,MT,AK,ID,AB,BC) 1999 Texas Children's Crown Award Young Hoosier Book Award (IN) 1998-99 1998-99 Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award, 4-6 Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award 1999-2000 Utah Children's Choice Award, 2000 //(1)//

Historical Context
Written in 1996 and published by Aladdin Papperbacks. //(2)//

Major Themes
Identity; Word Play; School; Family; Rules; Teacher-Student Relationships ====

====

**Citations**
1) http://www.andrewclements.com/books-frindle.html //2) Frindle//; Andrew Clements; Aladdin Papperbacks 3) http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nkm_CXe62AQ/S9jtxXvix-I/AAAAAAAAAD8/udimG9MBWbM/s1600/frindle.jpg 4) http://www.wellesleybooksmith-shop.com/files/wellesley/Andrew_Clements.jpg 5) http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/40/9b/7af2b484c8d00a7e9d9adb.L._V167484919_SX200_.jpg 6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Clements 7) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Selznick 8) http://www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/about_brian_bio.htm

Page created by Theresa Raguso