Frindle: This book is about a boy named Nick Allen. Nick is one of the popular boys at Lincoln Elementary School. In the past, he was been able to sway teachers to do what he wants however the fifth grade appears to be changing this. All fifth grade students have Mrs. Granger for English class. On the first day of school, Nick tries to keep Mrs. Granger from giving a homework assignment, but his attempts fail. Instead of escaping the homework assignment, Nick finds himself with an extra assignment on the first night of school. As Nick prepares his presentation for the next day, he develops a plan for delaying the class once again. With 8 minutes left in the class, Mrs. Granger still finds a way to squeeze in all of her plans for that day – and to give another homework assignment. Nick begins to think about something that Mrs. Granger said about the origin of words. Who says a pen is a pen, after all? When Nick invents his own word for a pen and the rest of the school catches on, this really explode at Lincoln Elementary School. The word “frindle” catches on everywhere and before long; Nick is making appearances on the David Letterman Show and Good Morning America. Will “frindle” ever go away or will is the word permanent? Mrs. Granger has her ideas on the subject, that’s for sure.
The Landry News: Cara Landry
is the new girl at school. Her last experience at school wasn’t all
that pleasant, and she claims it isn’t a result of her newspaper.
Cara’s teacher, Mr. Larson used to be a great teacher, now he just sits
at his desk, reading his paper, and letting his class go wild. One
day, things change, and it’s all because of Cara. Cara publishes
her newspaper by hanging it up on the class bulletin board. Everything
is fine, until Mr. Larson realizes that he has had a negative review in
the editorial. So, over the weekend, he decides to change this around.
The class becomes almost inspiring. All the kids are getting involved
in publishing the Landry News. Students are writing articles, and
Mr. Larson is giving pointers and questions for them to think about.
Everything seems to be going well, until the school principal, Dr. Barnes,
sees an article that he doesn’t like. Now the school board gets involved.
What will happen with Mr. Larson and the Landry News? It’s a fight
till the end!