Mary Amato

When someone takes a pet goldfish, then other items from Ms. Herschel's classroom, each time leaving a clue in the form of a poem, student Edgar Allan competes with a classmate to be first to solve the mystery.

Tired of being pressured to help commit crimes and yearning for a more normal life, twins Jillian and Billy band together to do good deeds while their parents kidnap a monkey from the zoo, hoping to teach it to steal. Includes activities.

Lerner Chanse, a new student at Cleveland Park Middle School, finds a worm that magically makes things disappear, and she hopes it will help her fit in, or get revenge, at her hated school.

Mrs. Penrose has a secret, and Alexander H. Gory, Jr., thinks he knows just what it is.
To spread the word, Alexander passes around his notebook, in which he details his proof that their mild-mannered teacher has become a blood-sucking creature of the night. The news spreads like wildfire, and soon the whole class is speculating. Will the librarian be her next victim? Can they protect themselves with garlic necklaces?

...

When her older sisters tease her into believing that she is actually a chicken, Henrietta runs off to a farm to be among her own kind.

A notebook that is passed from student to student around a classroom becomes a repository for wild rumors, heartfelt confessions, and creative writing and helps the students cope when their teacher has medical emergency and they must cope with a rigid substitute as they worry about their beloved teacher and her family.