Chapters 10-12 Summary

Chapter 10, "Atrocious," begins with Zinkoff asking his second-grade teacher, Mrs. Biswell, how many days are left in school, which is a mistake. She thinks he is being disrespectful. Assigning seats alphabetically, she puts Zinkoff in the last seat in the last row. Zinkoff laughs and cannot stop, which is bad. On the playground, a third-grader twists his arm and Zinkoff laughs, even through his tears. His classmates start trying to make him laugh, to get him into trouble. Mrs. Biswell does not like children, and sometimes wonders why she became a teacher. She despairs of Zinkoff's handwriting, which she calls atrocious. She does appreciate brilliant students, but Zinkoff is far from one of them. She does not like children to write on the greenboard or to use her special eraser. When she comes into the classroom one day, she finds Zinkoff...