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Miss Switch
Miss Switch to the Rescue
School isn't the same for Rupert Brown and Amelia Daley without Miss Switch, their incredible broomstick-riding, spell-casting teacher! February's sooooo boring without her. A mysterious package for Rupert promises to add a little excitement to their dreary lives, but neither Amelia nor Rupert expect what's a mysterious warlock with a thunderous roar, a huge temper, and a tendency to turn kids into toads!
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
About the author
Barbara Brooks Wallace
37 books32 followersAward-winning American children's writer. Has received, among others, the NLAPW Children's Book Award and International Youth Library "Best of the Best" for 'Claudia' (2001), as well as the William Allen White Children's Book Award for 'Peppermints in the Parlor' (1983).
Wallace was born and spent her childhood in China, but then moved to the United States. San Francisco was often a port of entry for her family, who lived in a huge, white-pillared mansion on the side of a hill, later to become the Sugar Hill Hall mansion which served as the setting for some of her most popular books. She was a UCLA graduate.
Wallace won two Edgar Allan Poe Awards from the Mystery Writers of America for 'The Twin in the Tavern' (1994) and for 'Sparrows in the Scullery' (1998). 'Cousins in The Castle' (1997 and 'Ghosts in the Gallery' (2001) were also nominated for an Edgar Award.
Wallace was born and spent her childhood in China, but then moved to the United States. San Francisco was often a port of entry for her family, who lived in a huge, white-pillared mansion on the side of a hill, later to become the Sugar Hill Hall mansion which served as the setting for some of her most popular books. She was a UCLA graduate.
Wallace won two Edgar Allan Poe Awards from the Mystery Writers of America for 'The Twin in the Tavern' (1994) and for 'Sparrows in the Scullery' (1998). 'Cousins in The Castle' (1997 and 'Ghosts in the Gallery' (2001) were also nominated for an Edgar Award.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 6, 2019
I remember seeing the TV adaptation on ABC Weekend Special back when I was little, but I'd never read the book until now. It's good, but I was surprised to discover the few moments that I remember from the TV special are not in the book at all. I'm going to watch it for the first time in decades tonight and see how it compares.
As for the book, um, spoilers, I guess, but there are a few moments where the characters got stupidly lucky. One is regarding the toadstools that Rupert had collected in the first book. He has two samples left over, and they each just happen to be extremely rare species that Miss Switch needs for her spells (mind you, he'd collected these, along with plenty of others, in the schoolyard, and no special attention was called to them in the first book).
The other is regarding the exact time and place that Mordo had taken Amelia back to. Miss Switch is somehow able to turn the classroom's blackboard into a TV-like device to see them but is unable to get information on the location. Bathsheba (her cat) tells Rupert to check his history book. He does (even he thinks it's a waste of time) and just happens to find a photo of Mordo's ship along with a caption mentioning Maine and 1640. Based on that, Miss Switch takes them to 1640, off the coast of Maine, and they just happen to arrive on the same day that they'd been viewing on the blackboard.
As for the book, um, spoilers, I guess, but there are a few moments where the characters got stupidly lucky. One is regarding the toadstools that Rupert had collected in the first book. He has two samples left over, and they each just happen to be extremely rare species that Miss Switch needs for her spells (mind you, he'd collected these, along with plenty of others, in the schoolyard, and no special attention was called to them in the first book).
The other is regarding the exact time and place that Mordo had taken Amelia back to. Miss Switch is somehow able to turn the classroom's blackboard into a TV-like device to see them but is unable to get information on the location. Bathsheba (her cat) tells Rupert to check his history book. He does (even he thinks it's a waste of time) and just happens to find a photo of Mordo's ship along with a caption mentioning Maine and 1640. Based on that, Miss Switch takes them to 1640, off the coast of Maine, and they just happen to arrive on the same day that they'd been viewing on the blackboard.
June 28, 2017
Another memory lane read for me. It was fun and enjoyable.
August 4, 2021
A delightful little read with nothing inappropriate in it. Kids would love it, even today. Just the right note of whimsy.
October 6, 2023
3.5 stars
June 23, 2014
Simon & Schuster clearly released this edition to cash-in on Harry Potter. The cover artwork is going for the Harry Potter style, only uglier and more caricaturish, and no interior art. I've spotted at least four blatant scanning errors, such as "you're" when "you've" was clearly the correct word in context. Even though they obviously paid Wallace to add a third book to the series, they didn't hire a proofreader. They did get someone to change all references from "twentieth century" to "twenty-first century," which at least makes sense since the third book is called Miss Switch Online, even for a book with a 1982 copyright.
I loved the ABC Weekend Specials adaptations of The Trouble with Miss Switch and Miss Switch to the Rescue when I was a kid, but I don't think I was ever able to read the books then, although I know I saw copies with the Ruby-Spears artwork on the covers. I never liked Miss Switch to the Rescue as much. The author's note says that this book was written because of the strong response to the animated version, but I don't think the adaptors thought too much of this book, either, since I recall Mordo being a very powerful warlock who takes Rupert and Amelia to the Salem witch trials, which called for a lot of period costuming and so forth. Here he wears timeless sorcerer's attire and goes back to Maine in 1640, and he's barely competent and a toady in more ways than one. The 1640 action never really leaves Mordo's ship, the Bide-a-Wee, and nobody's attire is described like a Puritan, although Peatmouse's ancestor, Thaddeus, does speak in seventeenth century talk, "wouldst thou," and the like.
The witty narration Rupert had in the first book never quite reaches those heights. More happens in this book, and it's longer, but none of it is quite as interesting or as interestingly told.
I loved the ABC Weekend Specials adaptations of The Trouble with Miss Switch and Miss Switch to the Rescue when I was a kid, but I don't think I was ever able to read the books then, although I know I saw copies with the Ruby-Spears artwork on the covers. I never liked Miss Switch to the Rescue as much. The author's note says that this book was written because of the strong response to the animated version, but I don't think the adaptors thought too much of this book, either, since I recall Mordo being a very powerful warlock who takes Rupert and Amelia to the Salem witch trials, which called for a lot of period costuming and so forth. Here he wears timeless sorcerer's attire and goes back to Maine in 1640, and he's barely competent and a toady in more ways than one. The 1640 action never really leaves Mordo's ship, the Bide-a-Wee, and nobody's attire is described like a Puritan, although Peatmouse's ancestor, Thaddeus, does speak in seventeenth century talk, "wouldst thou," and the like.
The witty narration Rupert had in the first book never quite reaches those heights. More happens in this book, and it's longer, but none of it is quite as interesting or as interestingly told.
November 23, 2013
I remember having this book as a young elementary schooler (probably 1-3 grade) and reading it over and over and over. For years I had forgotten what it was called, but vividly remembered the book's cover. It was a purple paperback with a black-haired woman holding a cat, and then the same woman--this time in full witch regalia--flying on a broomstick with a young boy and a girl, with the cat on the tuft of the broomstick. I also remembered the plot: a substitute teacher/witch helped two children fight against a warlock/ship captain named Mordecai.
I know the story was made into an ABC Weekend Special, but I can't remember if I saw that and that's why I got the book, or if I read the book first and then saw the TV show.
Well, as I was working my local middle school library, I happened to come upon the book and couldn't believe that I had found it. I was so excited!
This is one book that I remember LOVING as a child, and it's nice to say that when I re-read it, I still liked it. Yes, the plot was simplistic, and yes, the characters were pretty flat, but the book had the same tone that I remember, and I still smiled when I read it.
I just love that I found this book!
I know the story was made into an ABC Weekend Special, but I can't remember if I saw that and that's why I got the book, or if I read the book first and then saw the TV show.
Well, as I was working my local middle school library, I happened to come upon the book and couldn't believe that I had found it. I was so excited!
This is one book that I remember LOVING as a child, and it's nice to say that when I re-read it, I still liked it. Yes, the plot was simplistic, and yes, the characters were pretty flat, but the book had the same tone that I remember, and I still smiled when I read it.
I just love that I found this book!
November 12, 2016
Another Charlotte bedtime book. A cute story, much easier to read aloud than the first.
November 13, 2016
A good addition to the first book. It kept the characters and the fun magic spells.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews