This is a Guided Reading Level P (seeing reports online of P-S). It is a DRA 38. It would be on level for middle to end of third grade.
Franny is not your stereotypical girl. She is a mad scientist, and a pretty brilliant one too! She like bats and creepy things and ooze and spookiness. But being a mad scientist can make it hard to fit in. Franny notices that the other kids at school don’t really share her interests and she’s having a hard time fitting in. Her teacher challenges her to create an experiment and figure out how to make friends. Because she’s so smart, it’s not long before Franny transforms herself into exactly the sweet, conforming little girl that everyone likes. But as it turns out, her class doesn’t need one more person who fits in. What they need is a mad scientist. When an odd combination of items make their way into the trash, a dangerous, teacher-snatching monster is born! Luckily, Franny channels her true self and saves the day, a feat that earns her the respect of her classmates and friendships based on who she really is.
I love Franny and I love that her transformation was short lived, that she ends up being able to have friends even when she’s acting like herself. Because of Franny’s interests, this book has been appealing to students regardless of gender, but particularly with my third grade boys who love the monstery stuff and the frequent pictures. It’s done well with kids who’d probably rather be reading Captain Underpants or Wimpy Kid, and I certainly feel better about offering it. (In case you’re wondering, there is a little gross-out humor in the form of a kid who wets his pants, but that’s about the limit).
Sex, Nudity, Dating – A doll is wearing a dress that shows a bit of cleavage (this is an illustration, I promise the author isn’t writing about cleavage!)
Profanity – “darn,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Franny makes a doll with pointy teeth who chomps other dolls heads. There are cartoon illustrations of skeletons. There are illustrations of eyeballs. There is a giant monstrous fiend who kidnaps the teacher.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – Franny is into lots of spooky stuff like bats (which are drawn to be pretty cute), skulls, eyeballs, etc.
