Franny K. Stein: The Frandidate (Mad Scientist Series)

Benton, Jim. The Frandidate. New York:
Simon & Schuster Books for Young
Readers, 2008.

By Jim Benton

Copyright: 2008


Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's

Reading Level:

• Lexile:  840L

• Grade level:  3-5

Genre:  Science Fiction, Comics

Description:  Comedy and humor, Fantasy, Facing consequences

Suggested Delivery: Read-aloud for Third grade

Summary:  The main character Franny is a determined young girl who plans an attempt at "world domination" and starts her quest by running for class president at school.  She wants to get every classmates' vote and continues to drastic measures, using her mad scientist skills and Atomic Combiner machine to create a creature known as The Frandidate.  She puts on this special suit and becomes the perfect candidate, sensing the needs of every individual.  However, The Frandidate begins to have a mind of its own, creating promises to people that are not possible to keep and disaster strikes.  Franny has to regain control before The Frandidate takes over the world.

Electronic resources:

• Author's Website:  students can read a bio of Jim Benton, explore the dozens of other books he has written, and view the author's Sketch of the Day.

• Fun Activities:  this page has Franny K. Stein matching worksheets, word searches, story hybrids, and more!

Key Vocabulary:  anatomy, chemistry, perplexing, monstrosity, laboratory

Teaching suggestions:

• Use this book as a fun way to introduce science material to the class.
• Use to teach the relationship of cause & effect

Comprehension Strategies:

• Before Reading:  
• Ask the students if they have ever pretended to be someone they were not and what the outcome of this was.  Introduce the main character, Franny K. Stein, that they will be reading about who faces dangerous consequences after trying to alter who she was.

• During Reading:  
• Have the students raise their hand throughout different points in the book and predict what will happen next.  For example, use questioning to assess their comprehension of the book by asking what they think will happen when things begin to go wrong Franny K. Stein's creation.

• After Reading:  
• Have the students discuss some of the ways Franny K. Stein could have convinced her classmates to vote for her as class president without extreme and dangerous measures.  Make a list of these ideas on the board and guide them in their brainstorming.

Writing Activity:

Discuss the cause and effect relationships in the text with the students.  Have them choose two specific scenarios from The Frandidate and write a paragraph for both, explaining why something happened as a result of something else.  Students will use specific evidence from the book to support their writing.  They may need some additional prompting and guiding as they write their cause-effect scenarios.