My Weirdtastic School #9: Miss Sherman Is Determined!: A Funny Chapter Book About Viral Videos and Friendship for Kids

My Weirdtastic School #9

by Dan Gutman, Jim Paillot (illustrator)

With more than 36 million books sold, the My Weird School series really gets kids reading! In this ninth book of the My Weirdtastic School arc, cool new student teacher Miss Sherman posts a video of A.J. that goes viral and wants to replicate her success…at any cost.

Ella Mentry School is welcoming a new student teacher, Miss Sherman, and she’s the coolest person that A.J. and his friends have ever met!

But Miss Sherman is obsessed with getting likes, clicks, and followers on social media. When a video that Miss Sherman recorded of A.J. goofing off goes viral overnight, the kids want to help her keep their sudden fame going. From strange tightrope walking with bananas to wild pogo tricks, what wacky stunts will make the kids of Ella Mentry School go viral next?

Perfect for reluctant readers and all kids hungry for funny school stories, Dan Gutman’s hugely popular My Weird School chapter book series has something for everyone. Don’t miss the hilarious adventures of A.J. and his friends! 

112 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 21, 2025

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

[Katelyn Jayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

- I received this book from NetGalley -

AJ has taken us on another wild ride in his school with this newest book.

We get the similar antics that we normally have, walking into doors, him blurting out his misunderstandings, and his point of view on his friends and class mates.

I think this book is very relevant to the times, as a lot of kids/teens are worried about clicks and likes. Seeing how the main character in this book, Miss Sherman is consumed by it, and the kids just wanting to do fun things showed both sides of social media. I did like how the book ended, and thought it was done in a really smart way.

My 9 year old loves theses books and was laughing constantly, so they are still a hit in our house!

[Christie Stoneback · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my biggest joys as a mom is watching my kiddos truly enjoying the moment. Listening to Miss Sherman Is Determined with my 11 and 9 year old children was one of those moments! The three of us had so many laugh out loud and head shaking instances that our cheeks were hurting! Dan Gutman does it again with his witty, play on words and relevant to today book!

Thank you to the NetGalley, HarperAudio Children's and Dan Gutman for the advanced listener copy.