The first book in the Monsterrific Tales series is narrated by Miss Clevis, a science teacher who accidentally puts chemicals for a school experiment in her breakfast drink. At school, when a colleague gives Miss Clevis a gift, she has waves of dizziness and transforms into Jackie, her positive-thinking 11-year-old self. She is soon befriended by a bubbly student named Dawn, who assumes Jackie is new at school. But an encounter with a mean teacher triggers another change: Miss Clevis becomes Ms. Hyde, a mean-spirited substitute teacher who delights in tormenting her students. Lubar's plotting can grow a bit repetitive as Miss Clevis shifts from one persona to the other, bringing out the best in people (as Jackie) and the worst in them (as Ms. Hyde). Though the novel offers some musings on good and evil, Lubar (the Weenies series) puts the emphasis on comedy, not chills, in a story that slots nicely between The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Miss Nelson Is Missing! Bermúdez gives the story a cinematic sense of drama in his b&w spot illustrations. Ages 8-up. (Jan.)
[Page ]. Copyright 2013 PWxyz LLCThe first book in the Monsterrific Tales series is narrated by Miss Clevis, a science teacher who accidentally puts chemicals for a school experiment in her breakfast drink. At school, when a colleague gives Miss Clevis a gift, she has waves of dizziness and transforms into Jackie, her positive-thinking 11-year-old self. She is soon befriended by a bubbly student named Dawn, who assumes Jackie is new at school. But an encounter with a mean teacher triggers another change: Miss Clevis becomes Ms. Hyde, a mean-spirited substitute teacher who delights in tormenting her students. Lubar's plotting can grow a bit repetitive as Miss Clevis shifts from one persona to the other, bringing out the best in people (as Jackie) and the worst in them (as Ms. Hyde). Though the novel offers some musings on good and evil, Lubar (the Weenies series) puts the emphasis on comedy, not chills, in a story that slots nicely between The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Miss Nelson Is Missing! Bermúdez gives the story a cinematic sense of drama in his b&w spot illustrations. Ages 8-up. (Jan.)
[Page ]. Copyright 2013 PWxyz LLCGr 3-6--Miss Clevis, one of the most popular teachers at Washington Irving Elementary School, loves her job as a science teacher. Then one morning she accidentally mixes chemicals for a project into her morning banana-honey-yogurt smoothie and morphs between being a mean substitute named Ms. Hyde and a kind sixth-grade student named Jackie. As Ms. Hyde, she gives students failing grades, takes the class on a field trip to the town dump, and torments children. As Jackie, she befriends Dawn, one of her favorite students, and tries to stops others from being mean. She soon realizes that when she is around mean people she becomes Ms. Hyde and when she is around nice people, she becomes Jackie. Can she get back to being Miss Clevis or will she be stuck in this new life forever? A few full-page drawings of the characters and their classroom surroundings are scattered throughout. Kids will enjoy this strange and creepy school story.--Sarah Polace, Cuyahoga Public Library System, OH
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