Frindle lovers will enjoy this many-years in the future sequel (and won’t need to read Frindle first to enjoy the Frindle Files). Josh is frustrated that his ELA teacher does not use, or allow the use of technology, in his class. All homework assignments are hand-written and each student must bring their Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style book – not the ebook – to class every day. When Josh’s pen runs out of ink, he borrows one from his mom. The pen has the mysterious word “frindle” printed on it which leads to a google search about that time when a student coined the word frindle and it became somewhat of a viral event. The more Josh learns about frindles, the more he suspects his teacher knows all about frindles and sets out to prove it. Josh is a coder and finds it hard to let go of technology in ELA class and when he downloads an ebook version of The Elements of Style, it quickly becomes clear he has downloaded a pirated and typo-riddled version. There is an interesting juxtaposition between the rules for writing (Elements of Style) and the rules for coding (Python) and binary code scattered throughout the book translates into a secret message. Josh and his classmates rediscover Charlotte’s Web when they realize the connection to The Elements of Style.

Reviewed by Karen Sandlin Silverman, Mt. Ararat Middle School, Topsham