#frindle

★★★★☆

Fifth grade was different. That was the year to get ready for middle school. Fifth grade meant passing classes. It meant no morning recess. It meant real letter grades on your report cards. But most of all, it meant Mrs. Granger.

This book is such a delight!

Fifth grader Nick Allen is your typical kid - neither good nor bad, but trying to have fun while avoiding homework! He's got plenty of ideas, and he always helps liven up his classroom.

However, now Nick has a new challenge this year: Mrs. Granger, the no-nonsense, seen-all-the-time-wasting-tricks-before, by-the-dictionary-and-nothing-else stickler. She is very strict about her classroom using dictionary-only words, but this policy has led Nick to think: what rules force us to call an item by one thing or another? Why not just call it something?

This leads to the invention of the "frindle" - a new term for pen. Just a goofy innocent prank, right? If only Nick knew what the frindle movement would grow into...

This book is such a great exploration of words and meaning without it getting overwhelming. It's got plenty of silly charm, and I appreciate that it treats its characters very realistically. Nick is no saint of a character; he's just very imaginative and trying to understand the world around him! Likewise, Mrs. Granger isn't a dramatic villain - really, she's a strict but good teacher, and she and Nick have a great student-teacher relationship.