Clements, Andrew. Frindle. Illustrated by Brian Selznick. Scholastic, 1996. ISBN 9780439607278

If you are looking for a good author to help you introduce chapter books, Andrew Clements' books are classics. I wouldn't consider Frindle to be a very first chapter book (Nate the Great by Sharmat or Cam Jansen by Adler are excellent "first" chapter book reads), but this title by Clements is the next stepping stone. 

Nick, inspired by the idea of slang in language, decides that "frindle" is just as good a name for a pen as "pen", and sets out to discover whether he can drum up enough common usage of the word so as to have it added to the English dictionary. 

His teacher, a stout rule-follower and lover of the dictionary, demands that he not use the word in her classroom. Thus begins the challenge, and soon it grows beyond Nick to include classmates, parents, the school principal, a local paper, national news, a visit to late-night TV, and more. 

Personally, I went back and fourth on this story. I loved the cleverness of the plot and the engaging characters. Selzneick's illustrations helped drive the story, giving the characters more personality as well as keeping things kid-friendly. 

The main character, Nick, is one of those active boys that you can't help but love. He plays tricks and pushes people's buttons, but in the end you know he simply has an active mind searching for an entertaining outlet. 

What I did not appreciate was some of the portrayal of authority figures in the story. Nick, in his smiling, clever, way, was openly defiant to his teacher. Furthermore, his parents did little to address this issue. 

The saving element was the teacher in question. She was resilient, and understood Nick completely, even though he never knew it. In reality, she was playing the same games, and her clever moves are not revealed until the very end of the book. 

Frindle was written in 1996, so some of the objects and names will not resonate with children today. Things like print dictionaries, print newspapers, and "The David Letterman Show" won't have any significance. 

However, these elements do not detract from the story enough to make much of a difference, and the descriptions of the the dictionary and Nick's homework may even help children understand more about language and research.

Over-all, this was a good read. It kept me engaged, wanting to know how everything was going to turn out. And the ending didn't disappoint.