Where and when does Frindle takes place?

Story structure has three parts: character (the “who”),
plot (the “what”) and setting (the “where & when”.) Sometimes we need to make
inferences (decide for ourselves based on clues in the book) to determine the setting of
a story.

Frindle takes place at
Lincoln Elementary School, which is mentioned in the first sentence in the book. If we
read a little farther down on page 1, the narrator says, “What kid in New Hampshire
isn’t ready for a little summer in February?” We can infer from this observation that
Lincoln Elementary School is in New Hampshire.

Many fiction
books don’t point out the specific year that the action takes place, but again, we can
infer whether the book is set in the past, present or future based on clues in the text.
Based on the slang our main character uses, plus the casual mention of things like
sunglasses, TV, cars, and ballpoint pens, we can infer that Frindle
takes place in modern times.