Ms. Bixby's Last Day

by John David Anderson

Overview

A funny, heartwarming, and heartbreaking contemporary story about three boys, one teacher, and a day none of them will ever forget.

Everyone knows there are different kinds of teachers. The boring ones, the mean ones, the ones who try too hard, the ones who stopped trying long ago. The ones you’ll never remember, and the ones you want to forget. Ms. Bixby is none of these. She’s the sort of teacher who makes you feel like school is somehow worthwhile. Who recognizes something in you that sometimes you don’t even see in yourself. Who you never want to disappoint. What Ms. Bixby is, is one of a kind.

Topher, Brand, and Steve know this better than anyone. And so when Ms. Bixby unexpectedly announces that she won’t be able to finish the school year, they come up with a risky plan—more of a quest, really—to give Ms. Bixby the last day she deserves. Through the three very different stories they tell, we begin to understand what Ms. Bixby means to each of them—and what the three of them mean to each other.

John David Anderson is the author of Sidekicked and The Dungeoneers, proven winners with middle grade readers, and Ms. Bixby's Day is no exception.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781504735001
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	06/21/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

John David Anderson is the author of Sidekicked and Standard Hero Behavior. A dedicated root beer connoisseur in his free time, he lives with his wife, two kids, and two cats in Indianapolis. He still doesn't have any superpowers.

Jesse Bernstein is an audiobook narrator and winner of seven AudioFile Earphones Awards. His many works include The Battle of the Labyrinth, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Girls, Chasing Windmills, and Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson Series.

Ramon de Ocampo, an Earphones Award-winning narrator, was a co-winner in 2018 of the Audie Award for Best Multi-Voiced Performance. A graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, he has been seen on television, film, and stages all over the world, including recurring roles on such television shows as The West Wing, 12 Monkeys, Sons of Anarchy, and Medium. He is the winner of a prestigious Obie Award for his stage work.

Maxwell Glick is an actor based in Los Angeles. He has appeared on television in guest roles in numerous shows such as The Office and
Castle. He also has voiced numerous commercials, audiobooks, and cartoons. Originally a regional theater actor,
Glick has played Arpad in She Loves Me,
Matt in The Fantasticks, and Eugene in Brighton Beach Memoirs. A New York native, he is a graduate of Boston College.

Editorial Reviews

Certainly it would not be difficult to amass a longish list of books for young readers with wise, feisty and beloved teachers, perhaps beginning with Ms. Frizzle and rushing to Patricia Polacco's Mr. Falker; E.L. Konigsburg's Mrs. Olinski; Kirkpatrick Hill's Miss Agnes; Kevin Henkes's Mr. Slinger; Roald Dahl's Miss Honey; Harry Allard's Miss Nelson; and J.K. Rowling's Remus Lupin and Minerva McGonagall…Ms. Bixby is in this glorious line, but this is not a book about her precisely; it is a book about three hurt and damaged sixth-grade boys who have been given a tremendous gift by Ms. Bixby's teaching and life: They have been given more to be human beings with. They are about to demonstrate how much more.

The New York Times Book Review - Gary Schmidt

Kids won’t just love this book. They need it.” — Soman Chainani, New York Times-bestselling author of The School for Good and Evil

“Forget the dragons. Forget the swords and shields. Here is the true quest: to face the unendurable, knowing defeat is inevitable, and yet continuing with dignity and honor and purpose and, even, joy. Each page crackles as we embark on the greatest adventure of all.” — Gary D. Schmidt, Newbery Honor winner and author of Okay For Now

“A story of that one teacher we all have who we’ll never forget, told with laugh-out-loud humor and oh, so much heart.” — Gordon Korman, New York Times-bestselling author of Ungifted

“Brand, Steve and Topher are a comic, lovable crew, and wise, pink-haired Ms. Bixby is the teacher every child deserves. This is a touching, often hilarious story of endings, beginnings, and self-discovery. As Brand would say, frawesome!” — Tricia Springstubb, author of Moonpenny Island

“Anderson skillfully balances realism and comic exaggeration in an emotionally rich tale that holds no miracles, other than the small human kind.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“This surprising, inspiring, and relatable book is perfect for boys and girls who loved Wonder and will make you fondly remember your favorite teacher.” — Brightly

From the Publisher

This surprising, inspiring, and relatable book is perfect for boys and girls who loved Wonder and will make you fondly remember your favorite teacher.

Brightly

Brand, Steve and Topher are a comic, lovable crew, and wise, pink-haired Ms. Bixby is the teacher every child deserves. This is a touching, often hilarious story of endings, beginnings, and self-discovery. As Brand would say, frawesome!

Tricia Springstubb

Kids won’t just love this book. They need it.

Soman Chainani

A story of that one teacher we all have who we’ll never forget, told with laugh-out-loud humor and oh, so much heart.

Gordon Korman

Forget the dragons. Forget the swords and shields. Here is the true quest: to face the unendurable, knowing defeat is inevitable, and yet continuing with dignity and honor and purpose and, even, joy. Each page crackles as we embark on the greatest adventure of all.

Gary D. Schmidt

This surprising, inspiring, and relatable book is perfect for boys and girls who loved Wonder and will make you fondly remember your favorite teacher.

Brightly.com

★ 2016-03-16
Determined to give their hospitalized teacher a worthy "last day," three sixth-grade boys skip school and persevere on an impossible quest, deepening their friendship and discovering inner courage they didn't know they had. Ms. Bixby was one of the "Good Ones"—the kind of teacher you pay attention to and who pays attention to you. For each of the three narrators in this moving story, she meant something special. Topher, Steve, and Brand feel unappreciated at home: white artist Topher's parents are busy working; Japanese-American Steve feels inferior to his perfect sister, who meets his father's high standards; and white Brand has shouldered adult responsibilities because his paraplegic father is too depressed to do household tasks. Alternating chapters chronicle their efforts to acquire an expensive cheesecake, a bottle of wine, and a large bag of french fries for a celebratory picnic in the park across the street from the hospital where Ms. Bixby, who recognized their strengths, is being treated for pancreatic cancer. Not surprisingly, their mission is not entirely successful, but, like Atticus Finch, they see it through. Anderson's dialogue is realistic, and his choice of first-person narration gradually reveals each boy's history and personal growth. His characters are believable 12-year-old boys. The urban setting is appropriately diverse and gritty, and humor and pathos are nicely balanced. Sad and satisfying in just the right amounts. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews