One Potato Review

In fairness to the sweet-tempered Miss Nelson, those horrible little cut-ups in Room 207 were already explicitly preparing to capitalize on her absence, so she must have been doing something right. Yes, this story has all of the usual things to say about never knowing how good you have it until a witchy psychopath shows up as your substitute teacher, though Marshall’s impish deadpan is generally worth the price of a lesson. Miss Viola Swamp has deservedly booked a space in children’s worst-case scenarios for years, but the corresponding nightmares of Miss Nelson stranded forever on Mars, or eaten by sharks (Very Unpleasant reads a sign at the bottom of the hypothetical tank) or carried away by a swarm of angry butterflies is enough to even justify sequels.