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The Attack of the Two-Inch Teacher — Bruce Coville Published by Aladdin, 1999 The Attack of the Two-Inch Teacher by Bruce Coville is about an alien named Pleskit and his friend named Tim. They want to stop a boy in their class from teasing Pleskit so they borrow a shrinking ray. But when they launch the ray, it doesn't hit the boy and instead hits Tim and their teacher. They are now small enough to fit in a desk drawer and have no way of getting larger quickly! This story takes place on Earth, although Pleskit is from a different planet. On Earth, it takes place mostly in a classroom because that is where Tim and their teacher were shrunk. I liked this book because it's interesting and funny. It's interesting because it has a good plot and makes you want to read more. There are a lot of funny parts, like when Pleskit wants to inflate his bed, he "farts a medium fart of summoning." This book has a lot of action, especially at the climax. One point of action was when Pleskit catapults the teacher to the blackboard, and then she bounces off it and does a back flip. I liked the main character Pleskit because he knows a lot about what they do on his planet, but not what they do on Earth. Also, I like him because he has a purple antennae-like thing coming out of the top of his head. My favorite part is when Tim jumps up to see what's happening outside of the desk drawer (where the teacher and Tim are hiding) and because his weight is the same as when he is regular-sized, when he comes down, he breaks the drawer and both the teacher and Tim fall into the garbage. I like that part because it is really funny. I think the main idea that the author shared was that you should think before you act and not to make fun of people. That is because if the boy had not teased Pleskit, then they wouldn't have even thought about the shrinking ray. But if Pleskit had thought before he acted and checked who was coming through the door (they thought the boy was coming through), then he wouldn't have shrunk the teacher, or Tim. I learned that just because you're mad at someone doesn't mean you have to do something back at them. Instead, you could ignore them and then they may leave you alone. But don't try to shrink them! —Colleen, Grade 6

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