A familiar face from the Mr. Terupt series is back! The beloved author of Because of Mr. Terupt weaves together this warmhearted, multi-POV novel about five students drawn together by one very special student teacher who’s all grown up and following in his mentor’s footsteps!

The fifth graders in Room 202 at Baxter Elementary have a nickname for their teacher: Don’t-Care Dwyer. The kids are bored stiff . . . then student teacher Peter Jacobs lands in their classroom.

Suddenly, prankster Toby meets his match; off-the-charts-smart Dakota works to overcome her shyness; Harper, stuck in her older sister’s shadow at home, searches for something to call her own; baseball-crazy Derek grows worried that his parents are splitting up; and Lenny, who’s been biting his nails ever since he created the “big mess,” wants to prove he can stand on his own two feet.

With the help of Mr. Jacobs, the kids begin to bond. But tensions between Don’t-Care Dwyer and their student teacher threaten the kids’ newly forged friendships. They agree on one thing: how much they want Mr. Jacobs to shine when his supervisor comes to observe him. Unexpected events, however, jeopardize Mr. Jacobs’s teaching future, rallying the kids—and a surprising ally—for an end-of-the-school-year that changes each of them forever.