Mrs. Gorf (book chapter)

> If you children are bad, or if you answer a problem wrong, I’ll wiggle my ears, stick out my tongue, and turn you into apples!
>
> Mrs. Gorf

## **Mrs. Gorf (book chapter)**

"**Mrs. Gorf**" is the first chapter of *Sideways Stories from Wayside School*.

## Synopsis

During the first week at Wayside School, an evil teacher named Mrs. Gorf transforms all the students in her class into apples.

## Plot

The chapter opens by describing Mrs. Gorf, the meanest teacher in Wayside School, pointing out her long tongue and pointed ears. She remarks that if any students are bad or answer a problem wrong, she'll wiggle her ears, stick out her tongue, and turn them into apples. Joe is transformed into an apple for cheating off of John, and John is transformed for letting Joe cheat. Todd claims this is unfair, since John was trying to help a friend, but gets transformed into an apple as well. Mrs. Gorf moves the apples to her desk, and Stephen cries out of fear, getting transformed into an apple as well. Everyone remains quiet for the rest of the day until they can go home, but the four transformed students remain apples, with little to say to each other.

The next day, Kathy shows up late and is transformed into an apple. Paul sneezes, and is transformed into an apple, while Nancy is also transformed for saying "God bless you!" to him. Terrence falls out of his desk and gets transformed. Maurecia tries to escape, but before she can enter the hallway, Mrs. Gorf transforms her into an apple. Mrs. Gorf moves the apples to her desk, but shortly after trips over a piece of chalk, causing the Three Erics to laugh and get transformed into apples as well.

Louis comes in to investigate, but assumes Mrs. Gorf is a nice teacher after noticing a dozen apples on her desk, even though a dozen kids are missing from the class. He walks in the next day, seeing a dozen more apples, with only three kids left in the class, and assumes Mrs. Gorf is the best teacher in the world. By the end of the week, all the kids are apples, and Mrs. Gorf is glad she'll no longer have to walk up and down thirty flights of stairs ever again. However, before she can leave, Todd jumps off the desk and hits her on the nose, followed by the other students.

They demand to be transformed back into children, and Mrs. Gorf obliges. They prepare to get Louis to help, but Mrs. Gorf threatens to turn them back into apples. However, Jenny, holding up a mirror, deflects it back at Mrs. Gorf, who is turned into an apple herself. Louis comes in asking where Mrs. Gorf is, but none of the students answer. He then looks on the floor and notices an apple, which is actually Mrs. Gorf. Since Mrs. Gorf usually has so many apples, hungry Louis decides she won't end up missing only one, and eats Mrs. Gorf.

## Characters

* Mrs. Gorf (debut)
* Joe (debut)
* John (debut)
* Todd (debut)
* Stephen (debut)
* Kathy (debut)
* Paul (debut)
* Nancy (debut)
* Terrence (debut)
* Maurecia (debut)
* Eric Fry (debut)
* Eric Bacon (debut)
* Eric Ovens (debut)
* Louis (debut)
* Jennifer (debut)

## Trivia

* Louis Sachar wrote this story in high school under the title "Apple Power." His teacher actually disapproved of the story, ripped it up, and felt Louis didn't take the project seriously, but Louis enjoyed it, and eventually had a rewritten version of it be the first chapter of *Sideways Stories from Wayside School*.
* This marks the debut of Mrs. Gorf, Joe, John, Todd, Stephen, Kathy, Paul, Mac, Terrence, Maurecia, Eric Fry, Eric Bacon, Eric Ovens, Louis, and Jenny.
* This chapter would later be adapted into an episode of the cartoon called "Mrs. Gorf."

## Gallery

Mrs. Gorf 1978.jpgDennis Hockerman illustrationMrs. Gorf Chapter Illustration 1985.jpgJulie Brinckloe illustrationMrs. Gorf Chapter Illustration 2003.jpgAdam McCauley illustration
### Foreign editions

Mrs. Gorf Chapter Illustration.PNGPeter Allen illustration (UK)Mrs. Gorf Chapter Mets.pngHillar Mets illustration (Estonia)Mrs. Gorf Chapter Traditional Chinese.pngUnknown illustration (China, Traditional Chinese)Mrs. Gorf Chapter Kitamura.pngSatoshi Kitamura illustration (Japan)Mrs. Gorf Paul Simplified Chinese.pngUnknown illustrator (China, Simplified Chinese)
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