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Summer 2006 Review:

Book Cover Crimes and Punishments of Miss Payne

Barry Jonsberg

Random House Children's Books

© 2005

    The Crimes and Punishments of Miss Payne is a good book. It’s about two teenagers who try to prove their new English teacher is a drug dealer. The book is told in first person by Calma, a teenage girl in Miss Payne’s English class. Calma’s best friend scares all of the other substitutes off, but is unable to get rid of Miss Payne. He decides to trash her house. Once he gets in there he sees clues that may prove she’s a drug dealer. He and Calma try to prove this throughout the rest of the book. I wouldn’t recommend this book to a younger audience. It has strong themes that include but are not limited to sexual content, violence, language, and illegal actions.

~ Shannon Fuller, grade 12, Trumbull Career and Technical Center

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