David Parmelee

Miss Feesenschneezen Is Ill David Parmelee

When the beloved teacher of a "tough class" is out sick for a week, everyone must endure a succession of colorful substitutes. Each brings a lesson; all bring smiles.

"Miss Feesenschneezen Is Ill" is a middle-grade chapter book that entertains."

David Parmelee's "Miss Feesenschneezen Is Ill" began life as a series of little vignettes hidden in his fourth-grade daughter Andrea's lunchbox to make her laugh at school. Discovering them many years later (his daughter is now completing her BA in film production design) he thought there might be a fun book in them. He wrote the story, which turned out to offer way more twists and turns than he thought (including a whirlwind tour through the U. S. medical system) and and asked illustrator Maria DeCerce to bring the 38 characters to life with her magical pen.

"Miss Feesenschneezen" is a really fun book for smart kids who like to read and have their own opinions about school. School is the place where young people, going about the work of deciding who they are, are taught by older people who have done that work long ago, but who usually have only a dim memory of what it was like. The worlds collide in a sometimes absurd and comical way. The very, very best teachers, like Miss Feesenschneezen, understand this.