Books by Andrew Clements

Is Nick Allen a troublemaker? He really just likes to liven things up at school -- and he's always had plenty of great ideas. When Nick learns some interesting information about how words are created, suddenly he's got the inspiration for his best plan ever...the frindle. Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle? Things begin innocently enough as Nick gets his friends to use the new word. Then other people in town start saying frindle. Soon the school is in an uproar, and Nick has become a local hero. His teacher wants Nick to put an end to all this nonsense, but the funny thing is frindle doesn't belong to Nick anymore. The new word is spreading across the country, and there's nothing Nick can do to stop it.

This spot-on pairing of words and images is a warm, reassuring, and humorous tribute to dads everywhere.A day spent with a young child at the beach is filled with many minor dramas?a lost shoe, a ball that floats too far out into the water, a drippy ice-cream cone.These can be frustrating events for both child and parent, but the daddy in this book finds a way to fix each problem, lovingly and patiently. Why? Because he loves his little girl, of course!The classic Because Your Daddy Loves You makes the perfect gift?whether you're celebrating Father's Day, a new dad, or just the special bond between a father and child . . . any day of the year.

It isnt that Abby Carson cant do her schoolwork. She just doesnt like doing it. And in February a warning letter arrives at her home. Abby will have to repeat sixth gradeunless she meets some specific conditions, including taking on an extra-credit project to find a pen pal in a distant country. Seems simple enough. But when Abbys first letter arrives at a small school in Afghanistan, the village elders agree that any letters going back to America must be written well. In English. And the only qualified student is a boy, Sadeed Bayat. Except in this village, it is not proper for a boy to correspond with a girl. So Sadeeds younger sister will write the letters. Except she knows hardly any English. So Sadeed must write the letters. For his sister to sign. But what about the villagers who believe that girls should not be anywhere near a school? And what about those who believe that any contact with Americans is . . . unhealthy? Not so simple. But as letters flow back and forthbetween the prairies of Illinois and the mountains of central Asia, across cultural and religious divides, through the minefields of different lifestyles and traditionsa small group of children begin to speak and listen to one another. And in just a few short weeks, they make important discoveries about their communities, about their world, and most of all, about themselves.