Frindle Book

Okay, so I had to read this for my Study in Children's Lit college class and I finished it about 2 minutes ago and I'm still batting back tears from my eyes as I sit in the middle of the student union. I loved this book. So much. My heart is overflowing with unconditional love for this story.

When I saw this book on the course list, I recognized the cover and figured my brother must have read it when we were kids, but I knew I never had. I wondered why I hadn't for a moment but put that thought away. I'm actually really glad I read it now instead of then. Way back when, my brother (who is a year older than I) loved to read and I did not at all. If I tried this book, I probably wouldn't have liked it just because reading wasn't really my thing yet so I'm so happy I read it now when I love and appreciate words.

Because this book is all about words, specifically the word 'frindle' (unfortunately spellcheck doesn't think it's a word..). When I realized what direction this book was going in was the moment I fell in love. A smart-ass kid making up a word to piss off his teachers but the word actually gaining traction and becoming an actual word simply because people used it and insisted that it is a word. Absolutely love. I really loved the relationship between Nick and Mrs. Granger, too. That played out just the way I thought it would. I just love how this book shows kids all the power that words have. Good words and bad words, both types can spread like wildfire and have the same effect that frindle had, so be careful of what you say. But also, words have an incredible power to be what you want, to express what you want. Words are such wonderful, beautiful things and they're really all we have and Frindle gets down to the essence of that.

I think it's also really interesting that this book was written in 1996 and is basically maps out the entire map that a meme takes when it get popular in this day in age. I don't know when the word 'meme' came about but I'm pretty sure this whole 'meme culture' is a pretty new thing. But Frindle maps out the whole meme path and I think it's pretty interesting how Andrew Clements just nailed in back in '96. First a few people know about it; then someone of higher power with a wider audience of people/listeners/followers hears about it, helps it spread; then quicker than anyone expects, everyone knows about this thing; there are reproductions of this thing everywhere (graphics, videos, songs, and in the case of Frindle t-shirts and hats and the like); then it dies down, but everyone still knows about it and will catch the reference. It's probably just Clements understanding human behavior, but I still think it's incredibly interesting that he totally predicted and nail meme culture.

Anyway. Endless love for this book. Buy it for all the kids in your life, but you should read it, too, because it will warm your heart like no other.