MY TEACHER'S SECRET LIFE

A boy figures he's got the scoop on his teacher's life once the last bell rings: Mrs. Quirk tidies the halls with the rest of the teachers, works out with the gym teacher, sups on leftovers from the cafeteria, listens to a story, and, along with her colleagues, unfurls an air mattress from her desk drawer at bedtime. One day the boy spies his teacher, Mrs. Quirk, at the supermarket. Later he observes her buying a pair of roller skates, then watches on another day as Mrs. Quirk skates in the company of a little girl (who looks like her) and a man who puts his arm around her. Krensky (The Printer's Apprentice, 1995, etc.) faithfully captures the discombobulation that attends running into authority figures outside their contexts. The narrative is fresh and bright, its tempo clips along, and when the boy unexpectedly catches his teacher out of school, he never misses a beat. Adinolfi's eccentric, color-drenched artwork makes the after-hours classrooms look somewhat eerie, but mostly snug. (Picture book. 4-6)