BECAUSE OF OUR STUDENT TEACHER

Fifth grade teacher Mr. Dwyer used to be popular at Baxter Elementary School—until an unexpected event changed him from one of the best to Don’t-Care Dwyer.

Through alternating first-person points of view, troublemaker Toby Mitchell, overachiever Harper Manning, quiet Lenny Allen, baseball-loving Derek Hunter, and brainy Dakota Sunderland chronicle their year in Room 202 and the arrival of their new student teacher, Mr. Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs (who was a fifth grader himself in 2010’s Because of Mr. Terupt) breathes new life into the classroom with creative projects and teaching techniques that serve as the catalyst to challenge the students to learn and grow in new ways. Buyea deftly creates five distinct voices that readers will easily be able to differentiate. The shifting perspectives offer multiple angles for observing the leads’ emotional growth over the course of the year. The story is carefully plotted, with different details surrounding the mysterious event that so dramatically changed Mr. Dwyer purposefully divulged. Readers will eagerly play detective, piecing together the details, and by the end they’ll have a clearer picture of the whole story before any of the characters do. The narrative is accessible, with short chapters that keep the action moving, making this a good pick for striving readers. The main characters read white.

An engaging school story with a lot of heart and a dash of mystery.