Mr. Cooper Didn’t Do It

by Claire Swinarski

Ruby Logan has always wanted to be seen. With a trouble-making older brother and a demanding baby sister, she’s invisible in the middle. So when her teacher Mr. Cooper—a cool, funny guy everyone loves—is forced to shut down his YouTube Channel “Coop’s Class,” Ruby’s one chance at feeling special is shot.

With internet fame off the table, Ruby and her friends focus on an upcoming overnight field trip—until the principal announces it’s cancelled because someone stole the admission fee. Days later, an anonymous tip says to check Mr. Cooper’s desk. To everyone’s shock, the money is there, and Mr. Cooper is removed; investigation pending.

But there’s no way Mr. Cooper did this. Using journalism techniques they learned in class, Ruby and her friends do their own digging to clear his name. As the clues pile up and the suspect list grows, Ruby finally makes some headway. And what she finds will challenge everything she believed. No, Mr. Cooper didn’t steal the money, but he might have done something else. And maybe Ruby knew about it all along…

Genres: Middle Grade

320 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication January 12, 2027

About the author

Claire Swinarski is the author of multiple books for both kids and adults. Her writing has been featured in The Washington Post, Seventeen, Milwaukee Magazine, and many other publications. She lives in small town Wisconsin with her husband and three kids, where she writes books, wears babies, and wrangles bread dough. You can follow her on Instagram @claireswinarski.

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC



Claire Swinarski tackles a difficult subject with grace in ‘Mr Cooper Didn’t Do it’. without making this a spoiler filled with review, the book feels very realistic and depicts middle school realistically. I really enjoyed watching the mystery unfold and slowly putting together all the pieces of the story. Ruby is a great main character, very relatable and I really enjoyed watching her figure things out along with the reader.

[Nicole Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Quill Tree Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book had me going into it thinking I was getting a cute middle-grade mystery about a group of kids trying to prove their favorite teacher was framed, and then it slowly turned into a heartbreaking yet educational book about grooming. While this is more of a middle grade book or young YA book (the main character is an eighth grader), it does touch on heavy topics, mainly with some light bullying and grooming by a teacher (nothing sexual but still inappropriate with no respect for teacher-student boundaries).

Ruby Logan is an eighth grader at a Catholic school in Wisconsin who is used to feeling like the invisible kid in her family. She has a troublemaking older brother, a demanding little sister, and parents who are understandably focused on keeping everyone else from completely losing the plot. So when Ruby's cool, funny, extremely popular teacher, Mr. Cooper, starts featuring his students on his YouTube channel, Ruby is thrilled to finally feel special.

Unfortunately, the school eventually makes him shut down the channel (which is definitely the right thing to do considering the students are all minors.

Then things get even more complicated when the money for the eighth-grade camping trip goes missing during a fire drill. Somehow, the money turns up in Mr. Cooper's desk, and suddenly everyone's favorite teacher is accused of stealing it and placed on leave.

But Ruby is convinced he didn't do it. So, naturally, she and her friends decide they're going to investigate.

And honestly, watching these kids try to solve the mystery was pretty entertaining. They make lists of suspects, investigate clues, question people, and try to figure out who would have wanted to frame Mr. Cooper. Ruby even uses journalism and media-literacy skills she learned in class to help with the investigation.

The problem is that they're asking the wrong question.

Instead of only asking “Who framed Mr. Cooper?”, they really need to be asking “Why does someone want Mr. Cooper gone?”

Because there are some big red flags surrounding this teacher.

At first, Ruby genuinely likes Mr. Cooper. He's funny, charismatic, and makes her feel noticed. And that's an important part of the story because Ruby isn't stupid or gullible. She's a kid who trusts an adult she likes and admires. That makes it much harder for her to recognize when that adult is crossing boundaries.

Some of those boundaries are pretty obvious to the reader. He's recording underage students and posting them publicly without appropriate boundaries, and at one point he even drives Ruby home without her parents' permission.

And then there's the emotional manipulation.

The book deals with grooming, specifically the way an adult can manipulate a young person into trusting them, depending on them, and believing that their relationship is something special. As stated earlier, there isn't an emphasis on physical sexual contact. Instead, the story focuses on the psychological and emotional side of grooming and how difficult it can be for a young person to recognize what's happening while they're in the middle of it.

That was probably the most important part of the book for me.

Ruby isn't suddenly handed a giant neon sign saying THIS ADULT IS DANGEROUS. Instead, the supportive adults in her life gently help her recognize the behaviors she's been overlooking. I really appreciated that. Rather than blaming Ruby for trusting someone she thought was a good teacher, the adults listen to her, take her seriously, and help her understand what happened.

And Ruby's realization is genuinely heartbreaking.

But thankfully, she isn't alone.

The family relationships and friendships are actually a huge part of this story. Ruby is dealing with her best friend Scarlett becoming more distant and all of the usual eighth-grade chaos on top of everything happening with Mr. Cooper. Her relationship with her brother also develops in some interesting ways, and I liked seeing the characters grow throughout the story.

The overall message about having people around you who care about you really worked for me. Ruby has a strong support system, and even though that support system can't prevent everything from happening, it becomes incredibly important when she needs help processing it.

I also liked how the book connects everything back to media literacy. Ruby and her friends are literally investigating a mystery involving social media, online videos, emails, texts, and digital information while simultaneously learning that what you see online isn't necessarily the whole story.

There is quite a bit of discussion about technology and screen addiction, too. Some of that felt a little preachy and occasionally seemed disconnected from the main plot, but I could see why it was included given the media-literacy themes.

The mystery itself was fun, although I think the real strength of the book is Ruby's journey rather than the actual question of who stole the money. The investigation gives the story a hook, but the bigger mystery becomes figuring out who Mr. Cooper really is.

And that's where the title becomes particularly clever.

I also appreciated that the story doesn't treat Ruby's situation like something she should simply “get over.” The emotional aftermath matters, and the ending focuses on perseverance, family, healing, and finding your way back to the people and things that matter.

Overall, I think this would be a really strong choice for middle-grade or younger YA readers, with an important content warning for grooming and other difficult subject matter involving an adult's inappropriate behavior toward a student. The book is educational without making Ruby feel like a lesson instead of a character.

It's a mystery, but it's also a story about growing up, learning to recognize unhealthy boundaries, figuring out who you are outside of other people's expectations, and understanding that asking for help is not a weakness.

Overall, this is a surprisingly thoughtful middle-grade mystery with an important message underneath all the clues, texts, emails, and school drama.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Ruby is a student at St. Catherine's Catholic school in Juniper, Wisconsin where her father is the music teacher and also a worship leader at the church. We see some snippets of her notes to the school principal, Sarah Crewe, as well as text messages between her and her friends that are focused on an investigation into their favorite teacher, Mr. Cooper. It's Mr. Cooper's first year teaching Media Literacy, but at the end of the year he is accused of stealing the money for the 8th grade class camping trip and put on leave. After it went missing from the principal's office during an unscheduled fire drill, it was found in his desk. He maintains that he was framed, and has e mailed Ruby asking for her help in investigating. Her friend Scarlett is vaguely interested, but more obsessed with becoming a social media influencer. The teachers are oddly quiet about the incident, including Mr. Cooper's best friend, Mr. Anders. Ruby and her friends try to think who would want to get Mr. Cooper in trouble, and suspect baseball player Crunch, so try to question him. Ruby's parents, especially her mother, who is a nurse, are very much against screen time for kids, but after the disappointment of hte class trip being canceled, Ruby's father gives her his old iPad. Unfortunately, his accounts are still on it, and her friends see e mails discussing how unhappy they were with Mr. Cooper after her he recorded Ruby and her friends and posted the videos on YouTube. Ruby's friends are angry at HER for the fact the channel came down. As the investigation continues, Ruby starts to realize that perhaps Mr. Cooper isn't the great teacher that she has thought he was, which leads to an interesting end to the investigation.
Strengths: As much as I would like to say that teachers always act appropriately, I have seen too many borderline incidents like Mr. Cooper's to be able to. Ruby is a "good girl" who has to deal with her older brother, Asher, who has been a problem in school to the extent that he brought cows into the second floor of the high school. This establishes him as a character who can't be trusted, which works well in the plot. I love that Ruby has plenty of adult support, but even that was not necessarily enough to protect her. There is plenty of friend drama in this one, although Ruby eventually makes up with her best friend Scarlett. I liked the message that Media Literacy is important, and how the plot of the book underlined that.
Weaknesses: Things operate a bit differently in a small town Catholic school, so perhaps there is more e mail communication than there is at my school. There are some books that use e mails, texts, and reports to further the plot, but I had trouble believing that this much e mail would be used, and would have preferred straight text.
What I really think: This is a great choice for readers who enjoyed Giles's Listen to the Girls or Carter's How to Be a Girl in the World. Swinaski's What Happened to Rachel Riley and The Kate In Between also focus on difficult social situations that modern tweens may encounter.

[Faith Elizabeth Hough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why is it always so hard to find books for the in-between ages? I could make lists of hundreds of excellent picture books, but only dozens of excellent early readers. Again, hundreds of great middle grade stories, but books really focused on the tween years? Only a handful or two. So I'm on a mission. I want to expand my reading of later middle grade/early YA stories, to be able to offer more recommendations to this age group. It is, after all, the age group in which reading hours tend to drop off, and also the age at which so much personality and virtue and character are developing with the rapidity of a brand new BMW on the Autobahn.

Today's book, while technically shelved as Middle Grade (because no "Tween" category really exists) is a perfect book for the in-between years of around 12-14. I daresay readers on either side of that range will still enjoy it, though I would caution parents that it contains some heavy themes that might be unwise to throw at a younger child unawares.

Mr. Cooper Didn't Do It, by Claire Swinarski, follows in the footsteps of Claire's previous middle grade novels, all of which are perfect for the tween age group, all of which are innovative in the way they tell a story, and all of which are books that leave you wanting to think and ponder and discuss. I want to start a tween book club every time I finish one of her stories!

Here is the publisher's description:
Ruby Logan has always wanted to be seen. With a trouble-making older brother and a demanding baby sister, she’s invisible in the middle. So when her teacher Mr. Cooper—a cool, funny guy everyone loves—is forced to shut down his YouTube Channel “Coop’s Class,” Ruby’s one chance at feeling special is shot.
With internet fame off the table, Ruby and her friends focus on an upcoming overnight field trip—until the principal announces it’s cancelled because someone stole the admission fee. Days later, an anonymous tip says to check Mr. Cooper’s desk. To everyone’s shock, the money is there, and Mr. Cooper is removed; investigation pending.
But there’s no way Mr. Cooper did this. Using journalism techniques they learned in class, Ruby and her friends do their own digging to clear his name. As the clues pile up and the suspect list grows, Ruby finally makes some headway. And what she finds will challenge everything she believed. No, Mr. Cooper didn’t steal the money, but he might have done something else. And maybe Ruby knew about it all along…

What tween can't identify with that longing to be seen and appreciated? Which of them can make it through those years without making some regrettable decisions based on that longing? Ruby is no different--but her story offers tweens an amazing chance to live through someone else's mistakes and reach their own conclusions about what they would have done in Ruby's place.

I am going to insert a spoiler here, because I know most of my readers are parents who are wondering whether they can hand a book right off to their kid. This book deals with grooming. If you read it as an adult, that wouldn't be much of a spoiler, as you probably have the "parent antennae" that pick up on these things in a matter of seconds. Mr. Cooper did not treat his students appropriately. And while his grooming was cut short before anything too traumatic happened, reading through Ruby's account can be very stressful. I know some of my kids will be able to handle that--and others are going to need a quiet reassurance from me that everything will turn out okay.

Now, that spoiler aside, I have to talk about my favorite part of this book. When the details of Mr. Cooper's inappropriate behavior comes out, Ruby assumes she is going to get in trouble, or that she will be blamed (as she blames herself). But the good adults in her life are beautifully supportive and helpful, and they help her navigate through the rocky waters of learning to trust herself, her voice, and her intuition. Her friends, too, though they all go through some growing pains as they figure out a tricky situation, come out in her support and help her move on.

I wish every child/tween/teen in such a situation could have such support. The truth is that not everyone does--but abusers capitalize on this by fostering shame and fear that is unfounded in most cases. Children should know that most of the time, they can find helpful adults who will be on their side. They should know that their friends can come to understand and support. They should know that the person who has been lying to them about one thing is probably lying to them about the isolated picture they present, in which no child will ever be believed.

I've never before read a book that gives its readers so much hope and support on this topic. It left me with the exact feeling I hope my children can carry with them: you are a kid, and you're not supposed to have all the answers... you can make mistakes and you will still be supported... you can get into tricky situations and know that there are friends who will help you out of them. You aren't alone.

Finally, I feel I should add that while I've spent a lot of time talking about this one topic, Mr. Cooper Didn't Do It is not "a story about grooming." It's a story about a person, and a family, and best friends, and a friend group, and how all those individuals and groups interact. It's a really intriguing mystery. It's a book that gets you thinking about media consumption. It's a book that makes you want to travel to the midwest and find that smoothie place Ruby goes to. In other words, it's a really good book and a good story and it never once feels like the ever-dreaded Book with a Message.
​
Thank you to Netgalley for sharing an advance copy of this book with me; all opinions are emphatically my own.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I really like Claire Swinarski, so I requested this pretty much immediately.

Ruby Logan is the good kid - she’s well liked by her teachers and classmates, she never causes trouble, and compared to her older brother Asher, she’s a model citizen. As someone who was also the world’s biggest people pleaser (albeit minus the sibling drama), I can very much relate to Ruby. Don’t make waves, don’t cause a scene, it’s all fine…been there. When the book opens, there's a surprise fire drill (sidebar: they keep calling it a drill, but it’s clear pretty much immediately that someone just pulled the fire alarm so…not a drill?) and when the students come back inside, all of the money for the upcoming field trip has been stolen. Not long after (maybe the next day?), beloved teacher Mr. Cooper is essentially perp walked out of the classroom because the money was found in his desk. But Ruby and her friends are sure that he’s innocent, so they set about trying to prove who could have done it.

What follows is a delightfully believable tweenaged investigation. They don’t really have all of the facts, not everyone is super motivated, and…they’re kids, so the adults obviously aren’t going to be super transparent about disciplinary matters involving staff. There’s a runaround where they keep trying to figure out who would need the money, and then someone has to point out that the money was put in Coop’s desk, not stolen, so the crime wasn’t to get the money but to frame Coop. And then we cycle back through that a couple more times. Because this is how 8th graders solve crimes.

As Ruby and her friends dig into possible culprits and motives, she starts to look back on some of her interactions with Coop in a different light. She really thought of him as a friend, but was he? Is it weird that he’s still sending her emails even though he’s suspended, or does that make her special? She’s his favorite student after all.

There’s also the standard tweenaged drama of friendships changing (Ruby’s best friend Scarlett wants to spend a lot more time with another girl instead of her), and parents not understanding (mom always runs off to deal with Asher, even on Ruby’s special day). And in the end there’s a satisfying conclusion that mostly strikes the right tone between believable and soapboxy.

[ebigeyl wells]

asher logan, you are my FRIEND! (such an important book for kids to read. i really enjoyed this one!!)

staff rec blurb, feb 27: Between her chaotic family life and a fame-hungry best friend, Ruby feels invisible. Media literacy teacher, Mr. Cooper, seems like the only person on earth who notices her. But when Coop is fired for (allegedly) stealing field trip money, Ruby is determined to catch the true culprit. An essential book for Gen Alpha, Mr. Cooper Didn't Do It is a twisty mystery with all-too-real real world application.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so happy this book is finally live for the rest of the world to check out on NetGalley and Edelweiss. In the vein of What Happened to Rachel Riley, Swinarski pens a multi-faceted story that is deeply important to middle schoolers. Told through varying perspectives and mediums, readers will meet the students of "Coops Class" after their beloved teacher is fired for allegedly stealing field trip funds. The small Catholic school community is torn apart as we find out what Mr. Cooper is and is not guilty of.


Spoilers (???) ahead.


At its core, this is a book about grooming. What happens when a teacher is a little too friendly with their students? What kinds of boundaries do students and teachers need to be setting in a digital age? When does a teacher being supportive cross the line into being creepy? While there is nothing blatantly untoward done by Mr. Cooper in this book, his actions should set every adult's spidey senses tingling. And it's important to teach kids to be alert to the more subtle behaviors of adults that can precede more nefarious intentions. The way that Swinarski handles it is BRILLIANT and a perfect catalyst for having important conversations with every tween and middle schooler.