Lanie's eighth-grade science teacher, Mr. Fisher, is incompetent. He can't control the class, and many of them take advantage of that. Lanie and her friends resent him because he is ineffectual, but when he falsely accuses Lanie of cheating on a test, they begin to fantasize about revenge. They are shocked, however, when their fantasies come true, and Lanie actually begins to feel sympathy for Mr. Fisher and his difficulties. Reluctantly she tries to help him out. These teens behave realistically, both in their harsh condemnation of Mr. Fisher, and in their fumbling attempts to make amends when things get out of hand. Lanie's stereotyping of Mr. Fisher is not the only one that is wrong; she starts to look beyond the surface at other kids in her group as well, including her best friend. Though the writing can be pedantic and clichÇ-laden, Hopper (I Was a Fifth-Grade Zebra, 1993, etc.) has composed a quick read with a convincing middle-school setting. (Fiction. 10-13)
