Mr. Jack Is a Maniac!

My Weirder School #10

by Dan Gutman, Jim Paillot (Illustrations)

With more than 6.5 million books sold, the My Weird School series really gets kids reading!For A.J. and the gang at Ella Mentry School, weirdness and fun are all part of the routine. In this tenth book in the outrageously funny My Weirder School series, Principal Klutz thinks the kids at Ella Mentry School need to learn some self-defense moves. But the guy he hired—Mr. Jack—thinks he's an action hero! He spends all his time looking in the mirror. He does everything in slow motion. How are the kids supposed to learn anything?Perfect for reluctant readers and word lovers alike, My Weird School has something for everyone.

Genres: Childrens, Audiobook, Fiction, Juvenile, Chapter Books, Humor, 2nd Grade

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

The author of over 80 books in a little over a decade of writing, Dan Gutman has written on topics from computers to baseball. Beginning his freelance career as a nonfiction author dealing mostly with sports for adults and young readers, Gutman has concentrated on juvenile fiction since 1995. His most popular titles include the time-travel sports book Honus and Me and its sequels, and a clutch of baseball books, including The Green Monster from Left Field. From hopeful and very youthful presidential candidates to stunt men, nothing is off limits in Gutman's fertile imagination. As he noted on his author Web site, since writing his first novel, They Came from Centerfield, in 1994, he has been hooked on fiction. "It was fun to write, kids loved it, and I discovered how incredibly rewarding it is to take a blank page and turn it into a WORLD."

Gutman was born in New York City in 1955, but moved to Newark, New Jersey the following year and spent his youth there.

Reviews

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr Jack is hired to teach self defense to the kiddos. There’s just one little problem…Mr Jack thinks he is a super hero!

This is a great series for children!

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is recommended for ages 6-10 years old. The teachers at Ella Mentry School stage a fight with a mystery man, Mr. Jack. Mr. Jack, who pretends to be an action hero, was hired by the principal, Mr. Klutz to teach the students self-defense. The students start to become distracted by all the "butt-kicking" going on, but the kids start to realize Mr. Jack is a maniac. One day, a bear enters the school's gym and scares Mr. Jack away. Who will fight the bear and get it out of the school since the only person who could have, ran away?

I would use these discussion questions as writing prompts:
1) AJ refers to the rules of being a kid, and he mentions many different rules as being the NUMBER ONE RULE OF BEING A KID. Do you agree with AJ's rules? What is your number one rule for being a kid?

2) When AJ got beaten by Andrea during the "butt-kicking time," AJ said he felt humiliated. Can you think of a time when you felt humiliated?

3) Compare Mr. Jack to the other teachers in the book. Are there some similarities? Differences?

4) How did you feel about Mr. Jack in the beginning of the book compared to the ending of the book? Did your views on Mr. Jack change?

5) When the black bear came into the gym during the self-defense certificate ceremony, all of the teachers became scared and ran away leaving the bear with all of the students. What would you have done? Would you have ran away with the teachers? Or would you have fought the bear?

Gutman, D., & Paillot, J. (2014). Mr. Jack Is a Maniac! (Vol. 10). New York, NY: HarperCollins.

[Ruslan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty cool. This book was pretty much about how a man named Jack invades into the kids school and pretends to fight all the teachers but really he is a special quest to teach the kids how to defend themselves. I like how this book was pretty creative in the end. Well i'm going spoil it because no one is really going to read this book at this age haha. Anyways at the climax a bear comes into the gym and all the kids are trapped in there. The only way to defeat the bear is by using the techniques Mr.Jack taught them. So the kids scare off the bear and it runs away. You should read this book because it is an easy 1 point and you will enjoy it.

[Aminata Coote · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be the funniest book yet 🤣😂😅

[Moondancers · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was in third grade these books were the only thing I would actually read for fun. My teacher was always trying to get her students to check out at least one chapter book from the library and before I found this series she looked at me with disappointed eyes. When she told the class to pull out their books they got from the library me and a handful of other kids had to walk to the class bookshelf. I never found anything I liked so I always had to pretend to read for like thirty minutes. But I found this series one day and checked it out.my teacher didn't look at me with disappointment anymore. I rated this book three stars because I liked the book but ditched it after third grade. I'm in eighth grade now and I'm going to try to get interested in this series again. I'd recommend this book to kids that like easy reads.

[Ruth Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Readers of this series will not be surprised to find out that Mr. Jack is WEIRD. He worries about his hair, recites philosophical quotes, and teaches self-defense in very unconventional ways. Who ever heard of a self-defense coach who shoots ping-pong balls at his students?

Mr. Jack distinguishes between fighting (kicking butt) and self defense but his explanation fall on deaf ears at Ella Mentry school just as I am sure it will fall on deaf ears of most boys reading this book. They will love it for the fight scenes and the unexpected twist at the end of the story.

[Alec · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book, Mr Jack is a Maniac is a comical book by Dan Gutman that is really enjoyable. Strangely one day Mr. Jack came out of a bush onto AJ's the main character school unexpectedly. What AJ and his fellow classmates don't know is that the teachers are planning a play about solving problems with words not fists and Mr jack is there to be the bad guy In this sneaky plan. Read this silly story to find out if the plan works as the teachers want it to.

[Lynn Cansler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series is fun for kids. Each book is about a different weird teacher at the school. This one had a surprise ending. It is off the wall but appropriate humor. My Fourth grade son enjoyed it as a bedtime story.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Kluz hired a professional karate teacher to teach the children how to do self defense, to learn how to defend them self. It turned out strange! I loved this book. I recommend this book to people that like strange things.

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book doesn't really make sense

[Kevin Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too funny.

[Briony · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sure kids appreciate it and that is all that matters.

[Phong Le]

How do you read this

[Christy Weisiger · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very silly story, but one that might tickle young readers. Kids always enjoy a book that makes adults look foolish...and one in which kids rule!

[Abbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is awesome I like it when the lady teachers come up to him and thinks he is so cute. (But he is not)

[Sebastian Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrea beat Aj in a fight that's going to ruin his reputation

[Christine (KizzieReads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty wacky one. Karate chopping bears in school.

[Kaytee · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was so funny they found out that mr. jack was afraid of bears and so me and adrea fighted the bear

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok book

Kind of violent. But still funny. This book was ok. If you no not to say anyone is a dumb head then read this book.

[Luke Geddes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do they need self-defense?

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is weird and funny because the characters are weirdos and MR. jack is not teaching the kids karate . My favorite part in this book is the middle and the end. I

[Bryan Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny. Good little story for kids. My 7 year old liked it. Ending was a wee bit odd and forced feeling... otherwise it'd been 5 stars.

[Payton Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

My book review is about the book Mr.Jack is a maniac.The main summary in the beginning is kids would not stop saying hate ever since the new substitute Mr.Jack started teaching there,and the kids and male teachers.But all the girl teachers thought he was so cool they were in love with Mr.Jack,and all the boys and boy teachers tried to fight Mr.Jack they thought he was crazy,but they would always lose against Mr.Jack he was some karate maniac ninja at least that's what the teachers thought.
And the next day of school Mr.Jack was teaching a class and a bear walks into the classroom Mr.Jack was so scared he ran away,and then bear went over to this one girl tony liked and tried to eat her but tony went to the bear and punched and kicked the him and every was so happy even the girl that tony liked was so happy she kissed him.That was the summary hope you liked it.And now i am going to tell my opinions about this book hope you like them.
My opinions about this book is it has bad grammar,but i like when the girl kisses tony it's just really cute it makes the book have a happy ending,but i don't like how the boys would not stop saying hate it was so annoying it made me wanna say ughhhh,but another thing i like is how the teachers try to fight Mr.Jack but they lost because he was some ninja person,Now i am going to tell you who i recommend this book too.

[Wendy Clemente · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was.... aboute a boy named A-J him and his class were in the school playground talking to the school counsoler Dr.Brad. Dr.Brad was telling the kids that they should be nicer and not hate. So A-J said I hate hate then out of the suden came out a big black motercycle and on it was a person named Mr.Jack. The ladie teachers came out and then started flurting with him then Dr.Brad and the man teachers told Mr.Jack to because it is school property and then he threw the male teachers across the playgroud. Then they revield that it was a fake fight to show them what coludidos happen if they fight. Then they went to the gym to learn to fight with mister Jack. They wormed up with him. Then andaría and A-J fighted andria won. Everyone laghed and he got mad. Then the class lined up and Mr.Jack was throwing pingpall balls at them they had to douge them and A-J won so he got an aword. Then they learned intimadation. Then Mr.Jack was about to break a blocs of ice with his head before he did a bear got in and the kids intimidated the bear it worked and it left.

[Kody Ignacio · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book titled, "Mr. Jack is a Maniac!" by Dan Gutman it mostly takes place in Ella Mentry School and it has the original characters AJ, Andrea, Alexia, Ryan, Michael, and Neil. The author's writing is helped by the wacky drawings to picture the scenes better. A strength is that it is very funny and that wacky nature gives it a unique feel. A weakness is that it needs the pictures to add more detail. I would recommend this to anyone who is wanting to kick back and just enjoy a playful story.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids enjoy Gutman's books, so we tried one from this series. It's quick and punchy, much more in the wheelhouse of my 7 year old than my 10 year old. That doesn't mean it's a bad book. Just more along the line of, say, Captain Underpants, than the more middle school aged fare we've read from Gutman in the past. It's light, it's entertaining, and if it's not all that substantive, well, different books for different levels and interests of readers.

[Mrs. Sosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aprendiendo Ingles con libros para niños.

Le recomiendo este libro y todos los libros del Autor Dan Gutman para aquellas personas que deseen aprender ingles. Es una gran alternativa para educar el oído y va la vez la lectura. ¡¡ÉXITOS!! ¡Si se puede! con repetición, las veces que sea necesario, escucharlo y grabarse repitiendo la historia, a medida que lo repitan será cada vez mejor.

[Avery Robot Soda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked it, I thought it was a good book.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 according to the boy (7)
Bears!
Slow Mo hair combing!
Karate in bubble wrap!
ehhhhh-yaaaaa!

[Tom Priddis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this out loud to the kids for bedtime. Hilarious and silly.