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

The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class #10

by Martha Brockenbrough, Kate Messner (Introduction), Kat Fajardo (Illustrator)

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 an animal for them to virtually "adopt" and study the rest of the year. Elephants! Blue whales! Sparklemuffin Peacock Spiders! But Thunder hates voting—it's like sports but less fun.

Then she finds an abandoned baby possum and she has a brilliant idea. She'll bring the baby possum to school in her backpack, present a passel of possum facts, demonstrate the adorable “choo-choo” sound the babies make—and then unveil Moxie, the joey she’s hoping can join the class! How could they resist picking a real-live animal mascot? But when Thunder's plan goes off the rails, Moxie—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 listeners into Mrs. Z’s class where friendship and fun rule the school, from award-winning author Martha Brockenbrough.

Perfect for!
★ My Weirdtastic School fans
★ Reluctant learners
★ Classroom enjoyment
★ Andrew Clements fans
★ Animal lovers!

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)


*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 enjoyed in any order!

144 pages, Hardcover

Published November 4, 2025

About the author

Martha Brockenbrough is author of The Game of Love and Death, Finding Bigfoot, The Dinosaur Tooth Fairy, and Devine Intervention, books for young readers. For adults, she has written Things That Make Us [Sic], a hilarious guide to things that can go wrong with English, and It Could Happen to You, a diary of her first pregnancy. She's the founder of National Grammar Day and SPOGG, the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar.

Reviews

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glad it went in the direction of caretaking and raising wild animals is not thing when Thunder Nelson decides to rescue a possum and wants to make it to the classroom mascot because an elephant is too big. She learns about caretaking for a possum on the secret with cooked egg yolks and nocturnal habits. Luckily though everyone gets hip to the possum stuffed in a sock adventuring with Thunder and they let it go.

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute short book