The Invisible Fran

by Jim Benton

Book Overview

Goosebumps and Bill Nye the Science Guy fans, meet Franny

There's nothing better than being a mad scientist--at least according to Franny. So she's making it her mission to help her classmates discover their own inner mad scientists. All Franny needs for her latest experiment is a few volunteers, a half-completed two-headed robot, and an invisibility potion.

Only this experiment just might prove to be Franny's most...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689862938
• ISBN13: 9780689862939
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.7" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 7 to 9 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 4

Customer Reviews

Let Me Make Myself Clear (also title of chapter 9) - This is Very, Very Good!

The Invisible Fran is the 3rd book in the Franny K. Stein series. I got this book because I'm a huge fan of the invisible genre and basically read anything where someone turns invisible but after reading this I will definitely check out the rest of, if this book is anything to go by probably best junior fiction series written in a long time! Franny is fascinated by science and is in fact a practicing mad scientist herself. She has a lab in her parents' house and is helped by her assistant the reluctant Igor, her pet dog. During a school class the teacher assigns the class to do a talk on their hobbies. Fran listens to the other kids' hobbies such as stamp collecting, baking and Irish folk dancing and is convinced that once she demonstrates her hobby of being a mad scientist that the others will abandon their boring hobbies and emulate her. She brings a two headed robot to class but the class isn't impressed. Enraged and pondering how to convince the class she notices Igor being swallowed by a previous experiment a giant chameleon (which is apparently is a common occurrence). That's it she decides being invisible is the answer to her problem so combines chameleon DNA, cellophane molecules and disappearing ink into a drink which she consumes. Now in real life you'd think she'd die wouldn't you, but in junior fiction it works and she's invisible. Her plan is to become the voice inside the heads of her classmates by whispering in their ears making them think they want to be mad scientists. A very funny, fast paced entertaining story. The length is fairly short so you'll probably want to get a few of if not the whole series. They seem to be a lot cheaper buying as a box set which seems to retail for about the same price as just two Franny K. Stein books. If invisible man type fiction is also what you're interested in also check out The Invisible Man's Socks, My Best Friend Is Invisible (Goosebumps) by R. L. Stine, You Are Invisible: CYOA #48 by Susan Saunders, The Invisible Day by Marthe Jocelyn, Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex and you can even get an illustrated version of H.G. Wells 1897 classic The Invisible Man (Great Illustrated Classics). If the reader you are buying for can read at an adult level (or if you are an adult and you want a great invisible book yourself) the best of this genre are the masterpieces Memoirs of an Invisible Man by H. F. Saint and Smoke by Donald E Westlake.

Great series

My son just laughs and giggles when he reads these. He started in second grade, and it was a great series that kept him reading. He is now in third grade and reading more complex chapter books, but he'll still pick these up for a quick laugh. I plan on handing them down to my daughter next year when she is in first grade. The heroine is quirky and differant. She learns to celebrate her differances. The series should appeal to boys and girls and the main character is a lot of fun.

This book rocks

This book rocks.this book is about Franny in another GREAT adventure.

a very good book - a review by Eli (age 7)

This is a great and funny book. It's talent day in Franny's school and all of her friends are doing what she think is boring. Franny tells her friends to finish her robot and after that the robot destructs the school. Then, Franny finds the robot in the library ripping books a part. Her friends use their talents to attack the robot.

THE BEST BOOK EVER MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is A great book for all ages and sizes!It's graet to read in bed.It's a great book for people who love science.So go down to the closest book store and by this book!