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The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class: Thunder Nelson Does the Impossumble

By Kate Messner and Martha Brockenbrough
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Brief Description
Meet the kids in Mrs. Z's wacky and wonderful third grade class! When Mrs. Z's class is looking for an animal to "adopt," Thunder Nelson knows just the critter—the baby possum she just saved. But Thunder isn't ready for what happens when a wild animal goes... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3100

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Meet the kids in Mrs. Z's wacky and wonderful third grade class! When Mrs. Z's class is looking for an animal to "adopt" Thunder Nelson knows just the critter-the baby possum she just saved. But Thunder isn't ready for what happens when a wild animal goes to school!

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Meet the kids in Mrs. Z's wacky and wonderful third grade class! When Mrs. Z's class is looking for an animal to "adopt," Thunder Nelson knows just the critter—the baby possum she just saved. But Thunder isn't ready for what happens when a wild animal goes to school!

Mrs. Z's class is voting on a small class mascot, since big animals tend to get all the attention. But Thunder hates voting—it's like sports but less fun. Everyone is nominating tardigrades, while Thunder is hoping for something fuzzy, like a hamster.

Then she finds an abandoned baby possum and has a brilliant idea. She'll bring the possum to school and convince the class it should be their mascot! How could they resist picking a real, live animal? But when Thunder's plan goes off the rails, the possum—and the class—may end up in danger if Thunder can't find a way to fix her mistakes.

Both sweetly poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, with black-and-white illustrations by Pura Belpré Honor artist Kat Fajardo, Thunder's story invites readers into Mrs. Z's class where friendship and fun rule the school.

Perfect for!
• My Weirdtastic School fans
• Reluctant readers
• Classroom read-alouds
• Andrew Clements fans
• Animal lovers!
• Anyone who's had to fix a mistake

Read them all! The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class have plenty of stories to share!

Emma McKenna, Full Out (#1)

Rohan Murthy Has a Plan (#2)

Poppy Song Bakes a Way (#3)

The Legend of Memo Castillo (#4)

Wyatt Hill Brings a Lizard to School (#5)

Ayana Ndoum Takes the Stage (#6)

Olive Little Gets Crafty (#7)

Synclaire Fields Knows the Score (#8)

Theo Chang is Not a Cat (#9) - available for preorder now!

Thunder Nelson Does the Impossumble (#10) - available for preorder now!

Sebastian Metzger Solves a Sticky Situation (#11) - available for preorder now!

Fia Hosein Finds Her Beat (#12) - available for preorder now!

The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class is an innovative series where every book is written by a different all-star author and features a different kid in the same third-grade class. They can be read in any order!

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781523532971

Publisher: Workman Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 27 November 2025

Country: United States

Imprint: Workman Publishing

Illustration: B&W illustrations

Contributors:

  • Illustrated by Kat Fajardo

Audience: Children

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 12.0mm

Width: 138.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 144g

Pages: 128

Collections

Children's Books Children's Fiction Children's Picture Books Children’s, Teenage and Educational Kate Messner Martha Brockenbrough

About the Author

Martha Brockenbrough is the author of more than twenty books for young readers, including YA fiction and nonfiction, picture books, a middle grade mystery, and a chapter book series. A faculty member at Vermont College of Fine Arts, she's also the founder of National Grammar Day (every March 4), and she's written game questions for Cranium and Trivial Pursuit. Her YA novel The Game of Love and Death won a Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association Award and a Washington State Book Award, and was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize. She lives in Seattle with her family. She invites you to visit her online at nothingtonovel.com.Kat Fajardo (they/she) received a Pura Belpre Honor for Illustration for their first graphic novel, Miss Quinces (published in Spanish as Srta. Quinces). Born and raised in New York City, Kat now lives in Austin, Texas, with their pups, Mac and Roni. They invite you to visit them at katfajardo.com.

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