Showing results by author "Andrew Clements" in All Categories

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.

Sixth grader Alec can’t put a good book down. So when Principal Vance lays down the law - pay attention in class, or else - Alec takes action. He can’t lose all his reading time, so he starts a club. A club he intends to be the only member of. After all, reading isn’t a team sport, and no one would want to join something called the Losers Club, right? But as more and more kids find their way to Alec’s club - including his ex-friend turned bully and the girl Alec is maybe starting to like - Alec notices something.

Grace and Ellie have been best friends since second grade. Ellie's always right in the center of everything - and Grace is usually happy to be Ellie's sidekick. But this time, it's Grace who suddenly has everyone's attention when she accidentally starts a new fad at school. It's a fad that has first her class, then her grade, and then the entire school collecting and trading and even fighting over...buttons? A fad that might also get her in major trouble and could even be the end of Grace and Ellie's friendship. Because Ellie's not used to being one-upped by anybody.

Thunderbird Five is attacked by an unknown enemy with uncanny powers. An unidentified object is tracked landing in the Gobi desert, but what’s the connection? Scott Tracy races to the scene in the incredible Thunderbird One, but he cannot begin to imagine the terrible danger he is about to encounter. Alone in the barren wilderness, he is possessed by a malevolent intelligence and assigned a fiendish mission—one which, if successful, will have the most terrifying consequences for the entire world. International Rescue are about to face their most astounding adventure yet!

Fifth grader Nora Rose Rowley is really a genius. It’s true. But don’t tell anyone. Nora always gets average grades so she can forgo the pressure-cooker gifted program or Brainiac Academy. But when Nora gets one hundred percent fed up over testing and the fuss everyone makes about grades, she brings home a terrible report card just to prove a point.Pretty soon her teachers, parents, and the principal are launching a massive effort to find out what’s wrong. Can Nora convince them that tests alone are a stupid way to measure intelligence?

Josh Willet is a techie, a serious gamer. Which is why Josh and his friends can’t stand Mr. N’s ELA class; it’s a strict no-tech zone. Mr. N makes them write everything out by hand, he won’t use a Smartboard, and he’s obsessed with some hundred-year-old grammar book. Then Josh discovers a secret; turns out Mr. N's been keeping a lot more than technology from his students! Together with his best friend Vanessa, and using all the computer skills they’ve got, Josh is determined to solve the mystery of Mr. N’s past. And maybe get some screentime back, too?

Ted Hammond loves a good mystery, and in the spring of his fifth-grade year, he's working on a big one. How can his school in the little town of Plattsford stay open next year if there are going to be only five students? Out here on the Great Plains, in western Nebraska, everyone understands that if you lose the school, you lose the town.

What would happen if the noisiest, most talkative class of 5th graders in history dared each other not to talk for 48 hours? This is the premise Andrew Clements explores in one of his most compelling stories yet.

The Keepers of the School - known to their friends as Ben, Jill, and Robert - have one last chance to save their school before it’s torn down to make room for a seaside amusement park. But their nemeses, Janitors Lyman and Wally, are just as determined to keep the kids out of the way and the demolition on schedule. One way or the other, this battle is about to come to a head. When all is said and done, will the school still be standing? Or will everything the Keepers have fought for be destroyed?

Benjamin Pratt and his friends Jill and Robert are determined to save their school from destruction. But just when it seems they’ve finally gotten the upper hand over that awful Janitor Lyman, they’re caught completely off guard by his next move: Lyman has called in reinforcements, and suddenly Benjamin, Jill, and Robert find themselves dodging not one evil janitor, but two. That’s right: Lyman’s got himself a partner. And it quickly becomes clear that Wally, the new guy, is even more corrupt and menacing than Lyman.

Benjamin Pratt’s school is about to become the site of a new amusement park. It sounds like a dream come true! But lately, Ben has been wondering if he’s going to like an amusement park in the middle of his town—with all the buses and traffic and eight-dollar slices of pizza. It’s going to change everything. And, Ben is not so big on all the new changes in his life....

Greg had started looking around the cafeteria, and everywhere he looked, he saw quarters. He saw kids trading quarters for ice-cream sandwiches and cupcakes and cookies at the dessert table. There were quarters all over the place, buckets of them. At that moment, Greg’s view of school changed completely and forever. School had suddenly become the most interesting place on the planet. Because young Greg Kenton had decided that school would be an excellent place to make his fortune.

This could be the last great Memorial Day weekend on Barclay Bay, and Ben knows it. This time next year, he might not be able to stand in the yard of the Oakes School and watch the harbor shake off winter - boats buzzing just beyond the bulkhead and families spreading picnics in the fields. If the school gets torn down and replaced by an amusement park, the town will never be the same. But that’s only if the school gets torn down. Ben and Jill are determined to keep that from happening. And the evil janitor Lyman has taken note. He’s following their every move - and undoing their progress along the way.

Book two in the riveting and mysterious series by the master of the school story, Andrew Clements.

As a soldier in the Kosovo Liberation Army, Drago is trapped on the frontlines, witnessing the senseless atrocities of war. Forced to follow the orders of a bloodthirsty commander, he must pay the price of survival without losing his will to resist. Caught up in a never-ending cycle of vengeance, Drago fights for the lives of his brother and closest friends. The decisions he makes with the gun in his hands will determine their fate in the battle for Kosovo.

The bad news is that Cara Landry is the new kid at Denton Elementary School. The worse news is that her teacher, Mr. Larson, would rather read the paper and drink coffee than teach his students anything. So Cara decides to give Mr. Larson something else to read -- her own newspaper, The Landry News.

Jordan Johnston is average. Not short, not tall. Not plump, not slim. Not blond, not brunette. Not gifted, not flunking out. Even her shoe size is average. She’s ordinary for her school, for her town, for even the whole wide world, it seems. But everyone else? They’re remarkable. She sees evidence everywhere - on TV, in movies and magazines, and even in the email blasts that fill her inbox. Tremendously talented. Stunningly beautiful. Wildly gifted. And some of them are practically her age! Jordan feels doomed to a life of wallowing in the vast, soggy middle. So she makes a goal: By the end of the year, she will discover her great talent.

When Gwen's grandfather disappears from their home in New York City, he leaves a message saying not to worry, but that's hard when Gwen has upcoming violin auditions at Julliard! But then she meets Robert, a fellow musician, and things seem to look up. At the same time, there are other forces in motion, like the scary great uncle who keeps coming by, and the strange man Gwen sees one day when shopping.

Twelve-year-old Natalie Nelson has written a powerful school story. It's a short novel called "The Cheater," and her best friend Zoe is certain it should be published. All Natalie has to do is give the manuscript to her mom, an editor at a big publishing house. However, Natalie doesn't want any favors from her mom. Still, Zoe won't drop the idea.

It isn't that Abby Carson can't do her schoolwork, it's just that she doesn't like doing it. And that means she's pretty much failing sixth grade. When a warning letter is sent home, Abby realizes that all her slacking off could cause her to be held back -- for real! Unless she wants to repeat the sixth grade, she'll have to meet some specific conditions, including taking on an extra-credit project: find a pen pal in a foreign country. Simple enough (even for a girl who hates homework).