For one crazy week, the kids at Stoneybrook Middle School have become…teachers! Mallory faces an out-of-control English class. Mary Anne is student-teaching social studies. And Kristy has her first-choice assignment—teaching gym!
There's only one big problem—and his name is Cary Retlin. Cary and Kristy are supposed to be teaching the gym class together. But instead, they've started a gym war. Stoneybrook Middle School has never seen a teacher feud like this before—and Kristy's determined to do anything she can to win.
Main Plot[]
SMS is doing a special program called Teachers of Tomorrow where students can volunteer to teach classes for a week. Kristy, Mary Anne, Mallory, and Stacey volunteer for the program. Kristy is teaching a girls’ gym class. Unfortunately, shes team-teaching a with her arch rival, Cary Retlin, Kristy learns a few lessons she never knew she needed.
Subplot[]
Mallory volunteers for TOT, and she’s assigned to an eighth-grade English class. It doesn’t go well for her.
Vanessa likes the idea of TOT, and she tries to teach her siblings poetry.
There's a typo on page 118. "I felt was so happy about the way class had gone that I hurried to English, sure that Mallory's last teaching experience would also go well." When it should either say "I felt" or "I was" but not both.
Kristy says Andrew is five years old. In other books, he’s four or four going on five.
Ann M. Martin's Dear Reader Letter[]
Dear Reader,
In Kristy in Charge, Kristy discovers that being a good teacher is more difficult than she had expected. Over the years, I’ve had many wonderful teachers. My first favorite teacher was Mr. Mackey, who was my art teacher for first grade through fifth grade. (I named Karen Brewer’s art teacher after him.) Mr. Mackey knew how to make art creative, fun, and interesting. (When he arrived at our class, he always raised his arms and swung himself through the doorway!) My next favorite teacher was Miss Kushel, who taught me in third grade. She helped give me a love of reading, and I adored her because she thought I could do anything. In seventh and eighth grade my wonderful creative writing teacher was Mr. Dougherty (whom Mallory’s creative writing teacher is named for). He sparked our imaginations and told us we could all be great writers. There have been many other great teachers since, but Mr. Mackey, Miss Kushel, and Mr. Dougherty stand out. They gave me wonderful gifts and showed me what a great teacher can do.
Trivia[]
This is the first and only appearance of Cary Retlin in the main series.
This is the start of the problems that Mallory starts to have in school which eventually leads to her moving to Riverbend Hall Boarding School.
Kristy would be principal if she could.
Shannon gets a job sitting for Charlotte on page 19.
Vanessa only believes in how a poem sounds.
Some students in Ms. Walden's class have taken karate.
Kristy used to like Ms. Walden until this experience.
Kristy was stunned when she learned that some of her teachers don't like her. She was also stunned when Ms. Walden told her that the teachers don’t all like each other.
Vanessa's favorite teacher was Mrs. James.
Abby wrote a poem and is going to submit it to a literary magazine.
Mary Anne stood up in the middle of class and shouted at everyone to be quiet.
The advice that Abby gives Vanessa about making learning fun is similar to what Kristy tells Karen about teachers in Karen's School.
Mary Anne thought Logan wanted to volunteer for TOT. It’s not said if he does end up volunteering.
