Andrew Clements


Andrew Clements was an American writer of many children's books. His debut novel Frindle won annual book awards determined by the vote of U.S. schoolchildren in about twenty different U.S. states. In June 2015 it was named the Phoenix Award winner for 2016 as the best book that did not win a major award when it was published in 1996.

Life

Clements grew up in Camden, New Jersey and Springfield, Illinois, US. As a child, he enjoyed summers at a lakeside cabin in Maine where he spent his days swimming, hiking, water skiing, and his evenings reading books. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Northwestern University and a Masters of Arts in Elementary Education from National Louis University, he worked as a teacher sharing his love of reading with elementary, middle, and high school students.
He worked for several publishing companies where he published, acquired, edited, marketed, and developed quality children's books. In 1985, Clements added his own work to the market with a picture book entitled Bird Delbert. His first novel was the award-winning Frindle, which has won sixteen state book awards, as well as the Christopher Award.
Clements lived in Maine with his wife Rebecca until his death. He had four sons- John, Nathaniel, George, and Charles.

Awards

Frindle
The Children's Literature Association named Frindle the best English-language children's book published in 1996 that did not win a major contemporary book award, thus making it the winner of the Phoenix Award for 2016.
Contemporary Awards
Nominations and runners-up
Listings and recommendations