Beyond Locker 101

Wyatt Leadbottom resides in a wacky town with an even more peculiar middle school.

A spelling test that features the word ‘forlorn,’ and no one knows who ‘Lorne’ is; an art class where the kids paint flavor into fruit, and in science, one student’s hair grows out of control after drinking a potion given to her by the vampire teacher. In choir, a soloist makes ribbons of music with every rainbow color. And finally, spirit animals are assigned in the library.

Mrs. Byrd is missing. Folks think she left town without selling her house or packing her things, but she wants to sing all day. Then there’s the mystery of Naomi Stone and Mrs. Plantz. (Do you see a theme here?)

But a locker near Wyatt’s is left open, and despite his fear, his curiosity leads him into the reflection of the school, where everything is backward. Locker 101 is a palindrome, and that’s why it connects both worlds.

Strange things happen in the reflection, but Wyatt stands firm. He wants to figure this out, and with his twin sister, being much braver, the two find the terrible Snoodraggle that lives there and discovers he’s not so terrible after all.

When Wyatt figures out that everyone’s last name determines the thing they turn into, one mystery is solved. The cardinal is Mrs. Byrd, Naomi Stone is just that, and Mrs. Plantz becomes a Ficus tree. Wyatt is beside himself, waiting for his bottom to turn into lead.

Every time someone goes into the reflection, a duplicate is created. Consequently, the mystery of Locker 101 is solved, and the copies come out, along with the Snoodraggle and Mrs. Byrd. They live happily in Mrs. Byrd’s house, where the marshmallow diet of the Snoodraggle is replaced with vegetables. The group decorates the house with Mrs. Plantz (Ficus tree), and Wyatt finally fits in.