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Summary
Summary
Ms. Finkleman is just our boring old music teacher. Or is she?
It all starts with a Special Project in Mr. Melville's Social Studies class: Solve a mystery in your own life. For seventh grader Bethesda Fielding, one mystery is too tempting to ignore: Ms. Finkleman.
Bethesda is convinced that her mousy Music Fundamentals teacher is hiding a secret life, and she's determined to find out what it is. But no one is prepared for what she learns. Ms. Finkleman used tobe . . . a rock star? Soon the whole school goes rock crazy, and a giant concert is in the works with none other than timid Ms. Finkleman at the helm!
But the case isn't quite closed, and the questions continue to swirl forBethesda. Could there be even more to the secret life of Ms. Finkleman than she already revealed? With the help of her rock-obsessed classmate Tenny Boyer, Bethesda won't stop until she solves the real mystery of Ms. Finkleman once and for all!Author Notes
Writer Ben H. Winters graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri in 1998. He is a journalist and playwright as well as an author, and he co-wrote the New York Times bestseller Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Winters builds a fast-paced, funny, and highly original story on the premise that a drab music teacher-"so totally unremarkable as to be essentially invisible"- might have a secret past as a famous punk rock star. The main character, seventh-grader Bethesda Fielding, sets the plot in motion when she supposedly uncovers Ms. Finkleman's secret, but numerous other characters are fleshed out nearly as strongly. Winters moves with facility from one point of view to another, providing just enough background and detail on each to keep readers informed and engaged. When Ms. Finkleman, her former life apparently revealed, is instructed to prepare a rock-and-roll concert for a music competition, instead of the 16th-century English ballads she favors, the story takes some unusual twists, a few of which are kept from readers, adding more suspense. Winters (Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters) keeps tight control of the inventive material, ensuring that the unpredictable developments hit with a zing; his confident handling of an unusual melange of elements will entertain readers with a wide range of tastes. Ages 8-12. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
A social studies class assignment prompts seventh-grader Bethesda to dig into the true identity of her unassuming music teacher, Ms. Finkleman. Bethesda uncovers more than she'd bargained for, as her investigation reveals surprising details about Ms. Finkleman's rock-and-roll past. Humorous and entertaining, the story will appeal to mystery lovers and music fans alike. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Ms. Finkleman, a mild-mannered Music Fundamentals teacher, is a completely anonymous figure at Mary Todd Lincoln Middle School. She is such a nonentity that ace student Bethesda Fielding determines there must be more to her a secret history that needs to be uncovered. When Bethesda discovers her teacher's punk-music past, the repercussions are hilarious, revolutionary, and TWR ( Totally Way Rock ). Bethesda is a lovable nerd and heads a cast of characters who are clearly types yet still believable, and their dialogue is authentic. This title touches on intriguing issues about identity, the way teachers connect with their students, and second chances, all of which could open up lively discussions. This is also a just-plain-fun read that culminates in a wholly satisfying ending, and it will easily appeal to fans of Andrew Clements and Gordon Korman, as well as anyone who ever watched School of Rock or High School Musical and imagined putting on the best show ever.--Dean, Kara Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-7-Given a class assignment to find a mystery and solve it, seventh-grader Bethesda Fielding sets out to discover the true identity and personality of Ms. Finkleman, her seemingly ordinary music teacher. The woman is so ordinary that she is practically invisible to students and staff alike. This changes when Bethesda unearths some 1990s rock music paraphernalia and puts the pieces together (so she thinks), to find that Ms. Finkleman used to be Little Miss Mystery, in the band The Red Herrings. Bethesda is in a quandary after the project becomes the school's obsession. There is a rock star among them and so the choral corral that Ms. Finkleman was planning for a multischool competition will now showcase rock and a performance by her, instead of the 16th-century English folk ballads she had hoped the students would deliver. It is safe to say that Ms. Finkleman shuns the sudden fame and the attention it garners her. This story is part mystery, part friendship novel, part school story. There are twists and turns, but what is most enjoyable is the effect that learning and playing rock music has on the teacher's students. Everyone seems to discover their true inner selves through music, and that includes the not-so-mysterious-after-all Ms. Finkleman.-Tracy Karbel, Chicago Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
solve it" transforms a creative preteen and her classmates when she unlocks the secret life of their Music Fundamentals teacher, Ms. Finkleman, who's "so totally unremarkable as to be essentially invisible." Bethesda Fielding's ace research reveals the obscure Ms. Finkleman as Little Miss Mystery, former lead singer of an all-girl punk-rock band in the 1990s, prompting the school principal to demand Ms. Finkleman orchestrate a rock concert for the county choral competition. Ms. Finkleman co-opts Tenny Boyer, a student obsessed with rock music, to covertly create and direct the performance and Bethesda to tutor him in history. Enthusiasm for the concert swells, but things disintegrate when Tenny fails at history and Bethesda makes a bad choice as she tries to help him. Liberally laced with humor and featuring an upbeat heroine, unexpected friendship and rock-music trivia, this witty middle-school drama offers a lighthearted lesson in the importance of getting the facts straight. Readers will rock with laughter.(Fiction. 8-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
