Nick Allen

Nick is a student at Lincoln Elementary School as the novel opens. He is the son of Ginny and Tom Allen. His older brother is away at college. Nick is well-liked at school but he does not stand out as an especially smart or athletic student. The school is fairly small with only about 150 students in Nick's grade. Nick is good at reading people, and his classmates recognize this when he is creating a situation designed to distract the teacher. He is especially adept at finding the correct questions that will keep a teacher talking so that she forgets to make homework assignments. When he tries that with Mrs. Granger, however, it backfires and Nick winds up with an extra assignment.

Nick coins the word “frindle” and is surprised that it captures a lot of attention on the national level. He is naturally outgoing and wants to...