FRINDLE
BY: ANDREW CLEMENTS
REPORT BY: BARRY NDEH
The setting of Frindle is Westfield, New Hampshire. Much of the story is centered on the elementary school in the town of Westfield.
Nick Allen the main character, an inventive fifth grader at Lincoln Elementary School. Miss Deaver Nick's third-grade teacher, a new educator.Manny the custodian at Lincoln.Mrs. Avery Nick's hawk-nosed third-grade teacher. Janet Fisk Nick's friend and a co-conspirator in the blackbird noises in fourth grade.Mrs. Granger Nick's nemesis and the fifth-grade language arts teacher.Mrs. Allen Nick's mom. James Allen Nick's older brother. He is in college when Nick is in fifth grade.
1. Mrs. Granger is notorious among all the fifth grade teachers — for being strict, yes, but mostly for her love of words and of the dictionary. Enter Nick Allen, who, after trying to trick Mrs. Granger into wasting time on the first day of school, has to prepare a report on the history of the dictionary. The research, along with a few other, lucky events, gives him an idea: What if he could invent a new word - call an ordinary ballpoint pen a frindle? His classmates love the idea, and soon the entire school plays along, much to the dismay of Mrs. Granger, who halfheartedly punishes the students for using frindle.
Eventually, the word becomes so popular that people all over the world want to use it, and, eventually, it becomes part of the dictionary. Years later, after frindle has become a common part of the language, Mrs. Granger has a special surprise for the all-grown-up Nick, inventor of the word frindle.