I felt like shrieking more than a few times while reading The Teacher. Here's the deal: there's a student at Caseham High who was involved with a teacher last year in a way that drew suspicion from parents, other teachers, and administrators at the school. Nobody seems to know what happened, but the teacher resigned in disgrace and the student, Addie, earned a reputation for being troubled. It's not clear if Addie is truly troubled or if she's a victim of circumstance. What is clear is that she's a school pariah and being bullied by mean girls. She may also fail trigonometry and it's only the first quarter.
To complicate matters, Addie has been assigned to the classroom of the school's most popular teacher, Mr. Bennett. She's also been assigned to the classroom of the school's most hated teacher, Mrs. Bennett. Mr. Bennett has been voted onto the "Best Looking Teacher in the School" list for several years running and Mrs. Bennett, well, has not. They are an odd couple. And they react to Addie in different ways. More important, however, is how Addie reacts to each of them.
Warning: the high school setting in this novel is the stuff of nightmares. And, as I mentioned earlier, I felt like shrieking. In surprise, in disgust, in horror, and in delight. I was completely and thoroughly surprised by this book. I hope you are, too.