Extra Credit

by Andrew Clements
Abby Carson gets a note sent home that she is in serious danger of failing 6th grade.  The only way she can save herself is to get high scores for the rest of the year, do all her homework, and do an extra credit project.  The project she chooses is to find a pen pal from another culture and create a bulletin board in her classroom from what she learns about their culture.  She chooses Afghanistan because she hears about it on the news and knows that they have mountains there, unlike her home in Illinois

When the village elders in Afghanistan get the request for a pen pal they know the only person fluent enough to write back would be Sadeed Bayat.  Unfortunately it is unacceptable for a boy to correspond with a girl in this way, so Sadeed's sister is given the chance to write Abby, with Sadeed's help.  Abby and Sadeed are both shocked at the thoughts and culture of the other, and changed in ways they did not expect to be.

Audience

I'd say 4-7 of either gender.

What I Love About This Book

I just found the whole story very sweet.  It shows problems in both societies, but it shows how positive changes happen.  I also love Clement's theme of teacher smart enough to manipulate students into growth situations

Cautions
The end is not entirely satisfying.  It left me dreaming about the future for those two children.  The story is not graphic, but there is prejudice and violence.

Frindle

In the interest of wasting time, Nicolas Allen asked Miss Granger a question about her almighty dictionary.  She tells him to go find out, and when he does, he becomes curious about how words are made.  Miss Granger tells him he decides what things are called.  When everyone accepts a word, it becomes a real word.  He decides that a ballpoint pen shall henceforth be called a "frindle."  As per his plan, the word catches like wildfire.  Miss Granger makes her displeasure publicly known, but even she can't stop the English Language

Audience

I doubt this book would appeal below 4th grade.  The main protaginist is a 5th grade boy.  Frindle is realistic childrens fiction for elementary and middle school students

What I Love About This Book

I love watching Nicholas realize the power of a single idea.  The characters are so funny and they remind me of my students all the time.  This is just a charming book.  I love as his perception of adults begins to change.  This is just a charming book that I think kids and adults alike can't help but love.

Cautions

1) The parents are kind of clueless about the actions of the children

2) Nick's mishevious actions are winked at.  That usually bothers me, but as a teacher when my students get into mishief that will force them to learn what I'm teaching, I let them get away with it too.