When my friends read this in elementary school, it was kind of a silly book about some obnoxious kid who decided he didn't like the word "pen." Now, I'm looking at a list of recent Merriam-Webster additions, and thinking about the uproar that comes every time they add something like "dumpster fire" or "FOMO" or "blockchain" -- or when someone uses "they" as a singular pronoun.

Yeah, the book is funny, it's silly, but Clements absolutely thought through every single result of this little word-experiment: an entrepreneur trademarks the word, Nick second-guessed his later ideas, Nick gets on the David Letterman show... None of it felt unrealistic, because even in such a [relatively] short book, every consequence of "frindle" was at least mentioned. And actually, I laughed at the David Letterman thing because it seemed far-fetched, but then I remembered Ellen, and it didn't seem so ridiculous.

I have little-to-no patience for explanation (or even buildup-to-action) in most books, and I almost deducted a star since it took quite a while for "frindle" to even be mentioned, but I do think the first several chapters were important to show Nick's character and demonstrate some of his other big ideas. (I loved the beach thing!)

All Nick's ideas -- particularly the lunch-boycott one -- were also a great, only slightly heavy-handed lesson on how kids can spark change. I guess the whole book sort of shows that, but [[minor spoiler]] the town having the best school-lunch program in the state [[end spoiler]] spells it out most clearly. Besides this just being a cute book and an interesting read (even for an adult!), that message is why my hypothetical future children are probably going to read Frindle too.

Surprising no one but myself, I got a little bit emotional at the end of this book, too. The last lines... I can't. There could not have been a more perfect ending to this book.

In this book, Nick decides to try an experiment to give an everyday item a new name. He decides to start calling a pen a "frindle." Soon, he gets his classmates to go along, and the new word for pen catches on. His English teacher is skeptical of the new name, to say the least. This is a wonderful and fun book, great for 3rd-4th graders.
This review was submitted as an entry for a gift certificate drawing.

I have read good reviews about this book and glad to have found a brand new copy locally. Looking forward to reading this with my kid

My students love the book Frindle. The story takes place in a school setting so most children can relate and appreciate, the antics that the children embrace. It is a perfect example of the lasting relationship that a student and teacher can build.