Here is the Amazon's synopsis of "My Weird School" book series by Dan Gutman:
Twelve hilarious chapter books in one big box! With more than 12 million books sold, New York Times bestselling author Dan Gutman's My Weird School series really gets kids reading.
Ella Mentry School is the weirdest! From a science teacher who comes to school every day dressed as a superhero to a meteorologist who travels by hot air balloon, A.J. and the gang have had some weird and zany adventures.
You can read all twelve books in the bestselling My Weirdest School series back to back. This box set includes:
#1: Mr. Cooper Is Super!
#2: Ms. Cuddy Is Nutty!
#3: Miss Brown Is Upside Down!
#4: Mrs. Meyer Is on Fire!
#5: Miss Daisy Is Still Crazy!
#6: Mr. Nick Is a Lunatic!
#7: Ms. Joni Is a Phony!
#8: Mrs. Master Is a Disaster!
#9: Miss Tracy Is Spacey!
#10: Miss Newman Isn't Human!
#11: Mr. Will Needs to Chill!
#12: Ms. Hall Is a Goofball!
Perfect for reluctant readers and all kids hungry for funny school stories, Dan Gutman’s hugely popular My Weird School chapter book series has something for everyone. Don’t miss the hilarious adventures of A.J. and the gang!
Dan Gutman is a children's book author, and has written over 170 books for kids, ranging from kindergarten to middle school. For younger readers, he created the picture books like Rappy the Raptor, which tells the story of a rapping dinosaur named Rappy. For early readers, he wrote My Weird School series. Nickelodeon Studio is adapting the book series into a feature film. He also wrote Wait! WHAT?, a biography series that showcased the quirky side of historical figures like Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, Muhammad Ali, and Teddy Roosevelt. For middle graders, he authored the Baseball Card Adventures series, where a boy can travel through time using a baseball card as a time machine.
Now, here is his Novelpro Junkie Interview:
1. What is the genesis of “My Weird School”?
I got the idea for My Weird School when my daughter Emma was seven years old. She was reading Junie B. Jones, and I thought it would be cool if there was something like “Junie B. Jones” told by a boy. My Weird School was born.
Most of the books in My Weird School, you may have noticed, are dedicated to Emma. Now she’s 29. So I’ve been writing My Weird School for a LONG time!
When I was a kid, there was a girl in my class named Andrea, and she was a real smarty pants who knew everything. That’s why Andrea is named Andrea. I hope the real Andrea never reads these books! I named the character A.J. after a friend of my son Sam. I like names that are initials. The other characters are just regular names. I thought it would be funny to have one character who has bad things happen to her all the time. That’s Emily. She is always falling down or having things fall on her head. The kids are pretty normal kids. It’s the grownups who are weird.
2. Was “My Weird School” the original title or were there other titles?
That was the original title. We never considered another one.
3. What was your writing schedule when you wrote “My Weird School” first book?
The same that it is now. I usually wake up around 7am. I’m a morning person, and that’s when I do my writing. I can only focus my attention for a few hours a day. By lunchtime, my brain is kind of shot. But I write pretty fast. It takes about a month to write a My Weird School book. My other books take as long as a year, because they involve more research.
4. What was the most surprising thing you learned when writing “My Weird School” book series?
The most surprising thing was the impact the series has had on kids. I’ve received countless emails from parents and teachers and librarians telling me that their sons, their daughters, or their students didn’t like to read. Then they picked up their first My Weird School book and now all they want to do is read them night and day. It is especially nice to hear parents tell me about their kids with autism, ADD, dyslexia and other learning disabilities who have improved their reading skill by reading My Weird School books. I really didn’t start writing to save the world or anything, but it feels so good to write these silly words on a page and find that they have made such a positive impact on so many kids’ lives.
5. What was your favorite book when you were a kid? What was your favorite book as a teenager?
I didn’t have a favorite book as a kid. When I was a kid, I HATED reading. I thought it was boring and hard to do. My mother was worried about me, and she used to buy me comic books hoping it would get me interested in reading. It didn’t really work.
Then, when I was about 10 years old I became a big baseball fan. Suddenly I wanted to know everything about baseball, so I HAD to read about it. That got me interested in reading other things. So I would tell reluctant readers that there is something out there that you are really interested in. Maybe it’s sports, or cars, or airplanes, or whatever. There are books about that subject. Lots of them. You should check them out. If you are reading something you are interested in, you’ll get interested in reading.
By the time I was a teenager, I was hooked on reading. I recall that my favorite author was Kurt Vonnegut. I loved his book “Cats Cradle.”
6. Silly-Game question: From “My Weird School” first book “Miss Daisy is Crazy!” (with your eyes close) could you please leaf through the pages and point at a random place. What is the full sentence? And what is the page number of this random sentence?
Page 28: “But what if Miss Daisy was a bank robber? Or she could be a horse thief or a cattle rustler or somebody who parks where there is a yellow line on the curb.”
7. Congratulations on your book series “My Weird School” being made into a feature film by Nickelodeon Studios, could you brief us on how you found out the news?
I got an email from my agent. Nickelodeon optioned the series over a year ago. But LOTS of books get optioned and never get filmed. Recently, I got the word that the movie had been “greenlit.” So they were actually going to make it. That was pretty exciting.
8. What scene are you looking forward to seeing on the screen?
Any of them! Hollywood is notorious for taking books and changing EVERYTHING when they make them into movies. I’ll be happy if the movie resembles my books at all.
9. What are your thoughts about cast members involved in the feature film?
The only cast member that I heard of is Adam Rose. Even before I got the news, I had seen some of the funny videos he posts on social media in which he reacts to people doing dumb things. So I was happy to find out he would be in the movie.
10. Are you planning on visiting the set of the film?
I have not been invited. But if I do get invited, I would love to see it.
11. Are you going to make a cameo in the feature film?
I think it is very rare for an author to be invited to a set when his or her book is made into a movie or TV show. They are probably afraid that we will try to influence the film or criticize the way they are making it.
12. What other book series you’ve written; would you like to see made into feature films or TV Series?
No question about it. My series “The Genius Files” would make a GREAT movie. It’s about two kids named Coke and Pepsi who are traveling cross-country with their parents over summer vacation while these bad guys are chasing them the whole time.
13. Have you ever considered writing a screenplay?
No question about it. My series “The Genius Files” would make a GREAT movie. It’s about two kids named Coke and Pepsi who are traveling cross-country with their parents over summer vacation while these bad guys are chasing them the whole time.
14. Last question, if you could pick a day to relive over and over again, what day would it be and why?
The day the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. It changed my life. When kids ask me who influenced me more than anyone else, I say the Beatles.
Twelve hilarious chapter books in one big box! With more than 12 million books sold, New York Times bestselling author Dan Gutman's My Weird School series really gets kids reading.
Ella Mentry School is the weirdest! From a science teacher who comes to school every day dressed as a superhero to a meteorologist who travels by hot air balloon, A.J. and the gang have had some weird and zany adventures.
You can read all twelve books in the bestselling My Weirdest School series back to back. This box set includes:
#1: Mr. Cooper Is Super!
#2: Ms. Cuddy Is Nutty!
#3: Miss Brown Is Upside Down!
#4: Mrs. Meyer Is on Fire!
#5: Miss Daisy Is Still Crazy!
#6: Mr. Nick Is a Lunatic!
#7: Ms. Joni Is a Phony!
#8: Mrs. Master Is a Disaster!
#9: Miss Tracy Is Spacey!
#10: Miss Newman Isn't Human!
#11: Mr. Will Needs to Chill!
#12: Ms. Hall Is a Goofball!
Perfect for reluctant readers and all kids hungry for funny school stories, Dan Gutman’s hugely popular My Weird School chapter book series has something for everyone. Don’t miss the hilarious adventures of A.J. and the gang!
Dan Gutman is a children's book author, and has written over 170 books for kids, ranging from kindergarten to middle school. For younger readers, he created the picture books like Rappy the Raptor, which tells the story of a rapping dinosaur named Rappy. For early readers, he wrote My Weird School series. Nickelodeon Studio is adapting the book series into a feature film. He also wrote Wait! WHAT?, a biography series that showcased the quirky side of historical figures like Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, Muhammad Ali, and Teddy Roosevelt. For middle graders, he authored the Baseball Card Adventures series, where a boy can travel through time using a baseball card as a time machine.
Now, here is his Novelpro Junkie Interview:
1. What is the genesis of “My Weird School”?
I got the idea for My Weird School when my daughter Emma was seven years old. She was reading Junie B. Jones, and I thought it would be cool if there was something like “Junie B. Jones” told by a boy. My Weird School was born.
Most of the books in My Weird School, you may have noticed, are dedicated to Emma. Now she’s 29. So I’ve been writing My Weird School for a LONG time!
When I was a kid, there was a girl in my class named Andrea, and she was a real smarty pants who knew everything. That’s why Andrea is named Andrea. I hope the real Andrea never reads these books! I named the character A.J. after a friend of my son Sam. I like names that are initials. The other characters are just regular names. I thought it would be funny to have one character who has bad things happen to her all the time. That’s Emily. She is always falling down or having things fall on her head. The kids are pretty normal kids. It’s the grownups who are weird.
2. Was “My Weird School” the original title or were there other titles?
That was the original title. We never considered another one.
3. What was your writing schedule when you wrote “My Weird School” first book?
The same that it is now. I usually wake up around 7am. I’m a morning person, and that’s when I do my writing. I can only focus my attention for a few hours a day. By lunchtime, my brain is kind of shot. But I write pretty fast. It takes about a month to write a My Weird School book. My other books take as long as a year, because they involve more research.
4. What was the most surprising thing you learned when writing “My Weird School” book series?
The most surprising thing was the impact the series has had on kids. I’ve received countless emails from parents and teachers and librarians telling me that their sons, their daughters, or their students didn’t like to read. Then they picked up their first My Weird School book and now all they want to do is read them night and day. It is especially nice to hear parents tell me about their kids with autism, ADD, dyslexia and other learning disabilities who have improved their reading skill by reading My Weird School books. I really didn’t start writing to save the world or anything, but it feels so good to write these silly words on a page and find that they have made such a positive impact on so many kids’ lives.
5. What was your favorite book when you were a kid? What was your favorite book as a teenager?
I didn’t have a favorite book as a kid. When I was a kid, I HATED reading. I thought it was boring and hard to do. My mother was worried about me, and she used to buy me comic books hoping it would get me interested in reading. It didn’t really work.
Then, when I was about 10 years old I became a big baseball fan. Suddenly I wanted to know everything about baseball, so I HAD to read about it. That got me interested in reading other things. So I would tell reluctant readers that there is something out there that you are really interested in. Maybe it’s sports, or cars, or airplanes, or whatever. There are books about that subject. Lots of them. You should check them out. If you are reading something you are interested in, you’ll get interested in reading.
By the time I was a teenager, I was hooked on reading. I recall that my favorite author was Kurt Vonnegut. I loved his book “Cats Cradle.”
6. Silly-Game question: From “My Weird School” first book “Miss Daisy is Crazy!” (with your eyes close) could you please leaf through the pages and point at a random place. What is the full sentence? And what is the page number of this random sentence?
Page 28: “But what if Miss Daisy was a bank robber? Or she could be a horse thief or a cattle rustler or somebody who parks where there is a yellow line on the curb.”
7. Congratulations on your book series “My Weird School” being made into a feature film by Nickelodeon Studios, could you brief us on how you found out the news?
I got an email from my agent. Nickelodeon optioned the series over a year ago. But LOTS of books get optioned and never get filmed. Recently, I got the word that the movie had been “greenlit.” So they were actually going to make it. That was pretty exciting.
8. What scene are you looking forward to seeing on the screen?
Any of them! Hollywood is notorious for taking books and changing EVERYTHING when they make them into movies. I’ll be happy if the movie resembles my books at all.
9. What are your thoughts about cast members involved in the feature film?
The only cast member that I heard of is Adam Rose. Even before I got the news, I had seen some of the funny videos he posts on social media in which he reacts to people doing dumb things. So I was happy to find out he would be in the movie.
10. Are you planning on visiting the set of the film?
I have not been invited. But if I do get invited, I would love to see it.
11. Are you going to make a cameo in the feature film?
I think it is very rare for an author to be invited to a set when his or her book is made into a movie or TV show. They are probably afraid that we will try to influence the film or criticize the way they are making it.
12. What other book series you’ve written; would you like to see made into feature films or TV Series?
No question about it. My series “The Genius Files” would make a GREAT movie. It’s about two kids named Coke and Pepsi who are traveling cross-country with their parents over summer vacation while these bad guys are chasing them the whole time.
13. Have you ever considered writing a screenplay?
No question about it. My series “The Genius Files” would make a GREAT movie. It’s about two kids named Coke and Pepsi who are traveling cross-country with their parents over summer vacation while these bad guys are chasing them the whole time.
14. Last question, if you could pick a day to relive over and over again, what day would it be and why?
The day the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. It changed my life. When kids ask me who influenced me more than anyone else, I say the Beatles.
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