CONFESSIONS FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S CHAIR

In a distinct change of pace, Myers turns in a screwball comedy. In full adolescent-rebellion mode after her mom, Rendi, determinedly yanks her away from her classmate-harassing, dress-alike, eighth-grade clique and sets off in search of a fresh start, Robin dishes out the Silent Treatment, writes kidnap notes and makes a cold suggestion—which Rendi unexpectedly takes up—to settle down in Prairie Dog Town, Okla. There, she refuses to wear anything but business attire to her new school. When she is mistaken for the new temporary principal, Robin suddenly finds herself on the other side of the desk, saddled with a local clique and their harassment victim. With some help from a Psychic Hotline, Robin gets herself, the students and even Rendi straightened out during a reign that lasts but two days. Then she sells the whole episode as an anti-bullying human interest story to the national Opal Gentry TV show. Though some twists, such as Robin’s pursuit of hunky student Kash Edge while still supposedly in charge, aren’t all that funny, her chatty narrative and sometimes-misplaced self-confidence keep the tone light. (Fiction. 11-13)