Frindle

A Novel Review

Presented by :
Ray Gabriel U. Ramilo
Presented to:
Mr. Elmer B. Melindo, Jr.
Title: Frindle

Synopsis:

Is Nick Allen a troublemaker?

He really just likes to liven things up at school- and he's always had a plenty of great ideas. But
it looks like Nick's days of classroom shenanigans are over- thanks to his no-nonsense teacher,
Mrs. Granger. That is, until Nick learns an interesting tidbit about how words are created. This
inspires his greatest plan yet: invent a new word. From now on, a pen is no longer a pen- it's a
frindle. But what happens when the word starts to catch on... around school, around town?
Suddenly, frindle doesn't belong to Nick anymore. The word is spreading and there's nothing
Nick can do to stop it...

Author's biography:

Andrew Clements is the author of more than fifty books for children, including the New York
Times bestsellers Lost and Found and Extra Credit, and the debut book in his new Benjamin
Pratt & the Keepers of the School series, We the Children. Mr. Clements taught in the public
schools near Chicago for seven years before moving east to begin a career in publishing and
writing. He has four grown children and lives with his wife in Westborough, Massachusetts.

Characters:

Nicholas "Nick" Allen- the main character, an inventive fifth grader at Lincoln Elementary

Mrs. Granger- Nick's fifth-grade English teacher

Mrs. Catham- School Principal of Lincoln Elementary

Janet Fisk- Nick's classmate

Mrs. Allen- Nick's mother

John, Pete, Dave and Chris-These four boys are Nick's friends from school who take the frindle
oath with him.

Judy Morgan- Judy is a reporter for the local newspaper. She writes an article about Nick and the
frindle.

Bud Lawrence- Bud is a local businessman who makes frindle merchandise.

Setting:

-Lincoln Elementary

-Westfield, New Hampshire

-1990's

Plot:

Frindle is about a fifth-grade boy in Lincoln Elementary named Nick who is known for trying to
irritate his English teacher, Mrs. Granger, who is constantly making the students look up words
in the dictionary, and Nick decides to invent new words.

He and his friends make up a new word for a pen, a frindle, and begin calling it that. Over time,
the word becomes very popular in his school, town, and in fact, all over nation. The teachers try
to get him to stop using the word, but it's too late.

Judy Morgan, a journalist picks up the "frindle" story, which quickly makes Nick famous. He is
invited on Late Night with David Letterman to discuss the phenomenon. Nick ends up on
national television and a local business owner, named Bud Lawrence, began producing frindle
pens and gives Nick 30% of the profits.

When Nick turns 21, he was in junior college and he was very rich. One day he received a mail
from Mrs. Granger. He got a brand-new eighth-edition Webster's College Dictionary and a short
handwritten not taped to the cover of the dictionary and a white fat envelope. Mrs. Granger
congratulated him and gave him a little present. Lastly, Mrs. Granger received a letter from a
student of hers giving thanks.

Moral:

Language is a powerful tool. Used for good or bad, language has a power all its own, the
power to change the world. We should be creative in using the English language or any other
language but we must do it in a responsible way that we may change the world into a better
place. It must take bravery nad persevernace to change the world. In the story, Nick invented the
word frindle which means "pen" but as soon as the word spread in Lincoln Elementary, students
started using the word. The teachers corrected the students to use the word pen instead because
the word frindle is incorrect and it is not even written in the English dictionary. The students
began disobeying and kept using frindle and until it spread over town.
Reflection:

As a student, sometimes there is a time where students become curious about what they learn in
school. Like in the story, how words in the dictionary are created. Nick is trying to start a
revolution to change the world and he is the leader of it. Everyone might think it is so impossible
to fight against something regular or powerful. However, if somebody really wants to change the
world or the regulation in our life, they would succeed. Nick proved that it is possible to create a
new word in a innovative way.