Rating: 
Summary: A must read book
Review: This was an awe inspiring series. I started the series in 4th grade and saved pennies to get all the books. My siblings liked the books too. I'm now 20 yrs. old and just before I wrote this I was rereading the books and they're still great! If you have to do a book report and you don't mind getting hooked on reading for life. Start this series. You won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: An engaging story that should delight many a young reader
Review: When I come across a title such as this, I just have to take a look at the book for myself; when I find that there are three additional books forming a whole series based on the whole alien teacher concept, I have to read them all; I don't care if it's classified as "children's literature" because, to be frank, there are a lot of good "children's literature" books out there these days. With books such as this, by authors as engaging and gifted as Bruce Coville, aimed primarily at a fourth to sixth grade reading audience, it is harden to imagine that many kids just do not have any interest in reading. Heck, I'm an adult, and I loved this book. It's neither too long nor too short, puts believable characters in an extraordinary situation, mixes humor with warmth and intelligence, and - in case you missed it - features a substitute teacher who is in fact a reptilian alien in disguise. What's not to like here?This first person story is told by Susan Simmons, your ordinary sixth grader. She has been looking forward to the final weeks of the school year because her teacher, Ms. Schwartz, is going to have the children stage a play. She is soon shocked to learn that Ms. Schwartz is not coming back; to make matters worse, the new teacher, Mr. Smith, has no interest in staging plays or teaching in his predecessor's unconventional but highly effective (i.e., fun) style. Susan doesn't like Mr. Smith at all, and like many a kid before her eventually finds herself in a bind thanks to a note she wrote in class. In her attempt to get the note back, she discovers that Mr. Smith is actually an alien and that he has come here to take five students back with him to wherever he came from. What's a girl to do? No adult would ever believe her, and most kids would think she was joking. She turns to Peter, a smart but unmotivated boy who eats, lives, and breathes science fiction. He doesn't exactly buy her story at first, but together they find enough evidence to convince him that she is telling the truth. Now all they have to do is find and save Ms. Schwartz, avoid being carried off into space by Mr. Smith, and somehow prove to even the most skeptical of adults that "we are not alone." This book isn't scary at all, but there are a couple of suspenseful scenes involving the children snooping around in potentially dangerous places. Susan and Peter make for engaging characters, especially Susan; we see her having to deal with the reality of staying out of trouble, preparing for a big piccolo solo in the school concert, and forging a real friendship with Peter, on top of worrying herself sick over her big secret and struggling to come up with a plan of action. This really is an engaging, fast-paced science fiction tale that should spark the imagination of many a young reader.
Rating:
Summary: It's not a wig he's removing, that's his face!
Review: Yeah things can get pretty weird during adolesence... top honor students turning on eachother, the school bully always targeting your friend, and your teacher peeling his face off, revealing himself to be an alien. Susan Simmons is one terrified 6th grader in this tale of suspense and humor. When she gets her friend Peter thompson to tag along, so does Duncan Dougal.... all three find out that the new teacher is an extraterrestrial with more than math on his mind.... more of a devious plot!! I reccomend this to EVERYONE! It'll get you startd on the wonderful four part series!! -Alex M.
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