BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSNick Allen is a fifth grader at Lincoln Elementary School in Westfield, New Hampshire, known for pulling creative pranks and having a gift for derailing class with well-timed questions. When he tries the same trick on his new language arts teacher, the formidable Mrs. Granger, she turns it back on him by assigning him a report on where words come from. While researching the report, Nick learns something that changes everything: words mean what they mean because people agree they do. Inspired by that idea, he coins a brand-new word for pen and dares his friends to use it. Soon the whole school is saying frindle, Mrs. Granger is fighting back, and Nick has no idea how far his single made-up word is about to travel.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Frindle
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about Frindle. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a boy use a little screwdriver to crank the classroom thermostat up to about ninety degrees?
✓ Answer
Frindle by Andrew Clements
Nick brought the screwdriver from home so the classroom would feel tropical, and kids changed into shorts and T-shirts. It was part of his scheme to turn Miss Deaver's room into a summer island in February.
- First half
In what book does a boy remember calling music "gwagala" when he was two years old?
✓ Answer
Frindle by Andrew Clements
Nick thought back to how his toddler self used "gwagala" for his sing-along tapes. The memory helped him realize that words mean what people agree they mean.
- First half
In what book do almost eighty kids pack a classroom asking the teacher the same polite question in one day?
✓ Answer
Frindle by Andrew Clements
Pete's idea was to have every fifth grader politely ask to borrow Nick's new writing tool. The plan filled Mrs. Granger's room and hallway and required two extra late buses.
- Second half
In what book does a businessman file a trademark claim on a brand-new invented word?
✓ Answer
Frindle by Andrew Clements
Bud Lawrence, owner of a Dairy Queen and a McDonald's in Westfield, has his lawyer file a preliminary trademark after reading the newspaper article. He quickly starts selling cheap plastic pens imprinted with the new word.
- Second half
In what book does a mother press her foot on her son's under a coffee table during a TV interview?
✓ Answer
Frindle by Andrew Clements
Mrs. Allen doesn't trust reporters, so she sets up a signal with her son. Whenever Alice Lunderson asks a tricky question, she pushes his foot and answers for him.
- Near the end
In what book does every fifth grader deliberately misspell "pen" on the weekly spelling test?
✓ Answer
Frindle by Andrew Clements
Every Friday the first word on the spelling test is pen. Every fifth grader, in silent protest, writes out the seven-letter invented substitute instead.
