"frindle," and this soon spreads throughout the school.

Use of the word "frindle" becomes the main conflict of the book. Mrs. Granger wants the students to stop and says anyone who says it will have to stay after class, but the kids keep using the word and all stay after class together. The principal becomes involved and asks Nick's parents to put a stop to it, but Nick's mother doesn't think it's a big deal. A reporter becomes involved, publishing a story about the word "frindle." The superintendent does not like the bad press. We can see that there are those who support use of Nick's made up word "frindle" and those who are against it. At the heart of this conflict is Nick and Mrs. Granger, who have been opposing forces since the beginning, but at the end they reconcile.

The main conflict in the story is the conflict between Nick and Mrs. Granger.  Nick is annoyed that Mrs. Granger gives too much homework, and Mrs. Granger is annoyed that Nick is being disruptive.

Fifth grader Nick realizes that he has reached the point when school has changed.  In fifth grade, real letter grades are given and the focus is preparing for middle school.  For the first time, Nick has homework.  His English teacher, Mrs. Granger, gives a lot of it.  When Nick tries to get Mrs. Granger off track by asking her how words are created, she asks him to do a report on the subject.

Nick researches how words are created—they are invented.  He comes up with a plan to get back at Mrs. Granger by inventing his own word.  He decides to call a pen a “frindle” and see where it goes.  Mrs. Granger is annoyed because she thinks his behavior is disruptive.  They both feud over the pen/frindle issue.

And Nick didn’t try to sidetrack Mrs. G again.  He had slowed her down a little, but had he stopped her? No way. (Ch 5, p. 32)

Mrs. Granger writes Nick a letter.  Ten years later, he reads it when she sends it to him along with a dictionary.  She apologizes for her reaction to the frindle incident, but explains why she did it.

But somehow I think I have a small part to play in this drama, and I have chosen to be the villain.  Every good story needs a bad guy, don’t you think?  (ch 15, p. 99)

Mrs. Granger also includes a note explaining that she has all of her students buy this dictionary, and his word is in it!  Nick is rich now.  Mrs. Granger opens a package from him, a pen, with a note he wrote in fifth grade explaining that she is his favorite teacher.

My favorite part of the book is the letter.  Mrs. Granger gives Nick the letter, and he does not open it until ten years later when he is grown up.  She describes her reaction to the coining of the word “frindle” and why he did it.  She asks him to think about her perspective. 

But somehow I think I have a small part to play in this drama, and I have chosen to be the villain.  Every good story needs a bad guy, don’t you think?  (ch 15, p. 99)

I love the idea that Nick and Mrs. Granger each had more going on than the other realized, and the letter is proof of that.

Primarily, the conflict in Frindle exists as individual vs. individual.  Nick and Mrs. Granger represent two polar opposites and the primary conflict resides here.  Mrs. Granger represents authority and Nick, especially in the early stages of the book, is anti- authority and proves to be defiant of traditional structures that take away power from those who are not in the position of it.  The conflict between both Nick and Mrs. Granger is due to the power of language, but really it seems to be one of control.  Mrs. Granger, in assigning the report, wants to be in control of the power of language.  She wants to be the source of knowledge, which is why she assigns it to Nick.  For his part, Nick tries to subvert this attempt by his coining of a new word.  He deliberately choose words as the battleground as a challenge to the teacher.  The conflict is individual vs. individual, and while there is a peaceable resolution, the antagonism is between Mrs. Granger and Nick.  You might want to check out the enotes summary of the novel, as well.

The turning point, or climax, of Frindle is when Nick’s word becomes famous and his father sells the rights to it and creates a college fund for Nick.

The climax of the story is when everything changes.  In the beginning of the story, Nick develops a new word for pen and the children all enjoy using it.   Mrs. Granger, the English teacher, has a great appreciation for words and wants children to only use words in the dictionary, so she fights the new word tooth and nail.  Every child who uses it is punished, and she puts it on the spelling test every week—and every child gets it wrong.

Soon, the word catches real momentum because a newspaper story is written about the fifth grader who invented a new word for a pen.  The local and national media catches wind of the idea, and Nick goes national explaining what he did.  When asked by a reporter why he made up a new word, here is how re replies.

“Well, my teacher Mrs. Granger said that all the words in the dictionary were made up by people, and they mean what they mean because we say they do.  So I thought it would be fun to just make up a new word and see if it was true.” (ch 12, p. 79)

It is true.  As a result of his success, Nick’s father is approached by a businessman who wants to patent the word and make money on it.  He will give Nick 30% of the profits.  His father agrees, but says asks that Nick not be told so he doesn’t change his ideas about money.

From that point on, things get back to normal, but only somewhat.  The true definition of a climax is when things change.  The original problem, fighting the word, is no longer there.  Instead, Nick has to face the consequences of winning the fight.  He feels reluctant to have any more ideas until Mrs. Granger tells him he did nothing wrong, and she is proud of him.

The climax of the story Frindle is when Nick receives a large package from Mrs. Granger ten years after leaving the fifth grade. The package contains three things. One is a new dictionary. Taped to the front of the dictionary is the second item: a handwritten note from Mrs. Granger telling him to turn to page 541 of the book. On this page he finds the definition for the word frindle—his word has become official.

The third item is the envelope he signed in her classroom ten years ago. Inside is a letter that Mrs. Granger wrote to Nick during his fifth-grade year. We get to see into the past, and from her perception of what happened we suddenly realize along with Nick that she was playing devil’s advocate in order to give publicity to his idea. Instead of being against the word frindle, she was secretly rooting for it to take hold and did what she could to help it along. This flash of understanding is the climax of the story.

I would say the turning point, or climax, occurs when Nick seeks the help of Mrs. Granger. She knows that he is unhappy and not his usual self. His celebrity status has turned off his creativity and stunted his lively personality. Mrs. Granger counsels him to ignore the money and fame his "frindle" stunt and to just be himself. She relates to Nick in a one-on-one conversation which lets him know she is not the regimented classroom teacher everyone thought she was. She was proud of his creative genius which her "look it up in the dictionary" response stimulated. Nick accepts her advice and goes on to reform the school cafeteria and proceed successfully into an educated adulthood with the added windfall of his trust. In the conclusion, he acknowledges her influence on his life with a million dollar trust for educating children in her name.

In order to complete a summary about your favorite character, you will first have to select one.  Do you identify with one of the characters?  Is there a character that you admire?  For example, you might say that you identify with Nick because he is creative and does not give up his idea to call pens "frindles" even when he faces getting into trouble.  You might say that you admire Mrs. Granger because in the end, she tells Nick how she believed in him, even though she had him tricked to think otherwise for years.  She explains that she supported him almost all along, even though she did it in secret.

Once you select your character, you will have to provide several details and examples to explain why they are your favorite.  Look for both specific details and overall ideas to use for examples from the book.