The Frindle Files

Josh Willets is a self-described computer nerd. He loves his coding club and loves that his school makes sure every student has a laptop to use in class, but he hates that his ELA teacher, Mr. N., won’t let the kids use computers in his classroom and makes the kids write out their homework in blue or black ink on lined paper and neatness counts. Josh borrows a pen from his mom one day that has the word “frindle” written on it. When Josh does a search for that word, he discovers something pretty incredible about Mr. N. Josh tells his best friend, Vanessa, what he has found, and they come up with a plan that might free the students from Mr. N’s old-fashioned ways.

Author Andrew Clements has finally written a sequel to his very popular novel, Frindle. This fun story is completely believable and puts readers squarely in the world of fifth-graders and the issues they have to deal with. The dialogue is spot-on for the age, the story is compelling with a little mystery to drive it, and the writing is terrific. Middle-graders will be fully engaged all the way through. This is not to be missed.