The Frandidate

I gave this book five stars because Jim Benton is a really good author for kids. It's a wonderful book because Franny tries to be a class president but...she causes trouble and all of her classmates tell on her. She even makes a costume and her class cheers for her. I liked this book because it was super funny when she was thinking about turning everyone into a kangaroo. -Madisyn Sunnybrook

The Frandidate is book seven in this great series of adventures following one of the most interesting and well written child characters to come along in a very long time. For those who have only read this great book and are wondering which of Benton's former books in the series to buy first, I'd recommend Jim Benton's first three Franny K masterpieces Lunch Walks Among Us, Attack of the 50-Ft. Cupid or The Invisible Fran. I work as a library assistant and when I have asked kids if they enjoyed this and other books in this series the answer is always yes. That's pretty rare for a series of books but this series is that good! I've checked these books out myself to see what all the fuss is about and these books all can be enjoyed by adults as well as kids a feat not always done by junior fiction writers, even in the really popular kids books. I didn't read these in order either as there's a long wait for some titles so I'll point out they all have individual storylines so if this is the first book you've come across it can easily be read first. Franny Stein is an interesting character who doesn't follow the stereotype little girl who plays with dolls, has tea parties with stuffed animals and the like that many authors seem to want to write about. No Franny is a very intelligent girl more interested in bats, snakes, spiders, monsters and her number one passion, being a mad scientist. Interests that gel with many a real life boy or girl these days and lets be honest, always have. The length of these books is fairly short and take my word for it these books are so good you'll probably want to get a few of them, if not the whole series. They seem to be a lot cheaper buying as a box set. In the Frandidate, Fran gets in trouble for destroying her mother's favourite couch then at school is disappointed that the lesson for the day turned out to be elections and not electricity that she foresaw being written on the blackboard. Fran has never wanted to rule the world by making people do what she tells them as one would expect of a mad scientist but sees getting elected as something different as the other students would have wanted her there. At first she believes everyone will jump at the chance to elect her and her policies of a machine that gives 200 spanks a second, big bottles to stuff noisy kids in, robots that force you to eat healthily and chalk that explodes if you write the wrong answer. However she quickly learns a great leader provides her subjects with what they want. So she sets out to make a costume that can become the thing the subject is most comfortable with so they will tell her exactly what they want. Of course why stop at a school election when the presidency is up for grabs! Maybe not quite as good as the first few books but still a very, very good read!

I normally dont buy hardcover books (more expensive) but my son is reading (again) his Franny books and wanted to read the latest book too.. The HUGE smile on his face when he saw the book this afternoon is worth every penny I paid for it. He read it in 30 minutes and then read it again. Thanks Jim Benton :-)

My husband and I originally purchased book 1 of the Franny K Stein series in hopes of striking an interest in reading with our six year old daughter; it worked. All three of us fell in love with this quirky character! Since our first purchase, two years ago, we have all taken turns reading aloud chapters from each of the books. Our daughter had been waiting impatiently for Franny's newest book so as soon as it was released we bought Frandidate as a surprise. She was so thrilled that she read it in one day! I recommend this book for any kids who have a great imagination and a love of quirky humor, with bits of science fiction thrown in.

Like the other six books in the Franny K. Stein library, The Frandidate is another marvelous invention born from the mind of Jim Benton. We never grow tired of Franny's crazy antics and creations in my household, which is especially impressive when you consider that I have two sons, and well, Franny is a girl. I guess mad science is truly a topic enthralling to both genders. In this seventh book, Franny decides to run for class president. Typical for a mad scientist, Franny's thoughts on how to improve the classroom are slightly extreme. Franny's ideas for exploding chalk for a wrong answer written on the chalkboard or robots who force you to eat a healthy lunch don't go over well with her classmates. The other candidates' speeches about new playground equipment or less homework win greater support with the students. Franny realizes that she is going to have to please all of the students in her class and sets out to invent a suit that will allow her to become whatever another person wants her to be. If a classmate loves bunnies, wearing the suit, Franny becomes a bunny. If a student loves basketball, then Franny can become their favorite basketball player. It's all very simple for a mad scientist, and Franny wins the class election by a landslide. Soon the power has gone to her head, though, and Franny decides that she can just as easily become the President of the United States. It takes a quick thinking lab assistant and a truth seeking mom, to save Franny and the rest of the world from a little mad science gone wrong. Lucky for Franny that the members of her cabinet are so well chosen.