Miss Switch Online

From Publishers Weekly
In Miss Switch Online by Barbara Brooks Wallace, the third book about the titular heroine, Miss Switch tries to thwart evil witch Saturna's second attempt to take control of Pepperdine Elementary School. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7-When he starts sixth grade at Pepperdine Elementary, Rupert P. Brown III laments the loss of his favorite teacher and witch, Miss Switch, but things are hardly boring. Trouble starts to brew before the end of the first week, culminating in his discovery of a sinister Web site administered by the evil witch Saturna. Then Miss Switch resurfaces in the guise of fashion-challenged Miss Blossom, ready to fight the villain and her cronies, aided by Rupert and his intelligent pets. Using the Web site as a guide, they thwart Saturna and her dimwitted brother, Grodork, and finally defeat him, though Saturna may well return again another day, in another, hopefully more satisfying, sequel. In spite of an abundance of witchy-type behavior-lots of sparks flying from Miss Switch's green eyes, and plenty of last minute rescues utilizing Latin spells and toadstools-this installment tries too hard to attract the hordes of magic-crazed readers without delivering much magic. Even Rupert's famous scientific mind produces little scientific thought as he misses obvious clues to puzzles ultimately solved by his teacher. The final showdown is anticlimactic, as nothing happens to Saturna, and her silly brother only has to fall under a love spell to be vanquished. Rupert is just along for the ride-albeit on a broomstick. There are many more fulfilling bets for fantasy readers.Linda Bindner, formerly at Truman State University, Kirksville, MOCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
If you think nothing much is going on when Rupert P. Brown III begins sixth grade at Pepperdine Elementary School, you'd be dead wrong. Consider the following: a new teacher with the unlikely name of Miss Blossom; a new principal who has all the girls swooning; a talking bird who thinks he's a math whiz; a computer that goes berserk and produces a Web site called computowitch.com that not only displays some very ominous poetry, but whose password is the name of a witch Rupert has tangled with in the past. Yes, a witch! Faster than you can say "witchcraft and wizardry," Rupert figures he could be in big trouble. He can really use the help of Miss Switch, a real, honest-to-goodness witch herself, who also, amazingly, was once a former popular teacher of Rupert's class at Pepperdine. He has reason to believe she's back, but where?

ANNOTATION

Miss Switch the witch returns to save Rupert and the entire sixth grade from the evil Saturna, who is operating a sinister web site and has installed her brother as principal of the school.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Fifth grade was a year full of flying brooms, spells-gone-wrong, and general craziness for Rupert P. Brown III. Sixth grade should be a little more normal, right?

Wrong!

Sixth grade brings a new teacher named Miss Blossom, a principal who is every girl's crush, a bird who's got a thing for math, and a whacked-out computer that leads Rupert to a Web site called computowitch.com -- with a password that's also the name of an evil witch from Rupert's past!

As clever as he is, Rupert can probably use some help -- and who better to assist than his favorite bewitching teacher, Miss Switch?

FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature - Beverley Fahey

Miss Switch and Rupert P. Brown III are back in another adventure. This time they join forces to thwart the evil Saturna in her plot to put a devastating evil spell on the entire sixth grade of Pepperdine Elementary. Miss Switch, disguised as substitute teacher Miss Blossom, keeps her eye on wizard Gordork and witch Neptuna, in disguise as Principal Mr. Dorking and his assistant Miss Tuna. An unassuming teacher by day, Miss Switch along with Rupert sneaks into the computer lab at night to untangle Saturna's twisted threats, which she sends via her Website. Miss Switch easily overturns a spell that has the class delivering the lines of Romeo and Juliet in a way Shakespeare never imagined and a shrinking spell cast while the kids are at a museum. Saturna soon realizes that Neptuna and Gordork are not up to the evil she has in mind and devises the final spell herself. With ingenuity, practicality, and a little humor, Miss Switch once again foils Saturna and her cohorts. Children raised on a diet of J.K. Rowling and Eva Ibbotson will find little here that is scary or deliciously evil. The text is undemanding but unexciting. The spells fall flat and there is not enough suspense or tension to keep readers involved. Fans of Wallace's two earlier titles The Trouble with Miss Switch and Miss Switch to the Rescue might enjoy this one but all in all, this is not up to the author's standards. 2002, Atheneum,

School Library Journal

Gr 4-7-When he starts sixth grade at Pepperdine Elementary, Rupert P. Brown III laments the loss of his favorite teacher and witch, Miss Switch, but things are hardly boring. Trouble starts to brew before the end of the first week, culminating in his discovery of a sinister Web site administered by the evil witch Saturna. Then Miss Switch resurfaces in the guise of fashion-challenged Miss Blossom, ready to fight the villain and her cronies, aided by Rupert and his intelligent pets. Using the Web site as a guide, they thwart Saturna and her dimwitted brother, Grodork, and finally defeat him, though Saturna may well return again another day, in another, hopefully more satisfying, sequel. In spite of an abundance of witchy-type behavior-lots of sparks flying from Miss Switch's green eyes, and plenty of last minute rescues utilizing Latin spells and toadstools-this installment tries too hard to attract the hordes of magic-crazed readers without delivering much magic. Even Rupert's famous scientific mind produces little scientific thought as he misses obvious clues to puzzles ultimately solved by his teacher. The final showdown is anticlimactic, as nothing happens to Saturna, and her silly brother only has to fall under a love spell to be vanquished. Rupert is just along for the ride-albeit on a broomstick. There are many more fulfilling bets for fantasy readers.- Linda Bindner, formerly at Truman State University, Kirksville, MO Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews