Hyde and Shriek: A Monsterrific Tale (Monsterrific Tales)
Viola Swamp rises again. But instead of that well-remembered picture-book character, here the teacher is benevolent science teacher Jackie Clevis, who, thanks to a chemical cocktail, transforms into the harsh, child-hating substitute teacher Ms. Hyde—depicted in  Calos occasional full-page illustrations as a dark-haired, authentically scary-looking scowler. Telling the tale from the teacher’s point of view, Lubar brings her to the realization that the uncontrollable switch from nice to nasty is triggered by the moods of those she meets. One problem: when she is Ms. Hyde, she enjoys her bad behavior so much that she doesn’t want to change. After several cruel pranks, along with a scheme to blow up the school, Ms. Hyde is outsmarted by sweet-natured Dawn and other students, who find a way to restore her to the way she “had been born to be. Not all good. Not all bad. Just all human.” Though this reads like a spun-out short story, the chance to get inside the head of an evil teacher and watch her torture her classes should compensate for the ruminative passages and lags in pacing. Grades 3-6. --Peters, John