Silfee+Reading+Response+9

I'm finding that I really, really like this book! It's actually very funny and such an easy read! I think Madame Esme is so good with the children, but I also think that it might be a little bit of a problem that they don't respond the way they do to her the same as the do to other teachers; substitues, special subject teachers. She has this bond with them that they understand very well, but as soon as she's not there anymore, or even if she's just "invisible", they suddenly don't know how to act. For example, they had a substitute teacher for twenty minutes while Madame Esme stepped out to help with a computer problem and the poor substitute got stabbed in the back with a pencil, literally! It was hilarious, but at the same time I wondered why, with all that she has been teaching them, that she did not teach them that they have to have the same respect for others that they have for her. You would think that would be a main concern of hers. However, I found the way she handled it to be quite humorous. Another thing that I don't really understand is the way that her collegues act toward her. Ms. Federman was kind of weird in the way that she handled the situation that she was presented with when Madame Esme was about to walk out the door. Then Ms. Coil! She was just awful! The way she was acting made Madame Esme feel like she could be murdered at any moment while she was under her table moving the legs three inches backandforthandbackandforthandbackandforthandbackandforthand... This just isn't right. You shouldn't feel that sort of tension when you're with a coworker. And finally, Mr. Turner. He's the worst of them all! And what makes it even worse is that he's such a creep at first, then he's creepy in a whole different way by intimidating her and making her feel even more uncomfortable than ever before, and then at the end of the section he's acting as though he really likes her and they should be able to have a "casual conversation". As if! I think they're all crazy, and she's crazy if she stays at that school!