You never know when disaster is going to strike. It happens when John Jacobs accidentally knocks over his ant farm, causing an "earthquake' that endangers the lives of his buddies Big Jim, Digger, and Pea Brain. It happens again with a second "earthquake" of a different kind: John's all-time favorite teacher, mrs. Lucas, announces that she's moving. John and his friends Buzzy and kate try everything they can think of to keep Mrs. Lucas from leaving. They even concot a daring plan to sneak into the teacher's lounge while avoiding Mrs. Washburn, the biggest and meanest teacher in school. Will it work? If not, will they be able to deal with the consequences?

Laurie Myers comes from a writing family: both her mother, Betsy Byars, and her sister, Betsy Duffey, write children's books. Laurie's two previous books for Clarion are EARTHQUAKE IN THE THIRD GRADE and GUINEA PIGS DON'T TALK. She lives in Augusta, Georgia.