The Kids in Ms. Coleman’s Class #6: Twin Trouble
A review of book six in this classic Ann M. Martin series.
Twin Trouble is book number six in the Ann M. Martin series The Kids in Ms. Colman’s Class. If you are familiar with Ann M. Martin books such as the Baby-Sitters Club, you will instantly recognize the chracters and setting in this story. The Kid’s in Ms. Coleman’s Class series is a spinoff of the Baby-Sitters Club Little Sister series (which is a spinoff of the original Baby-Sitters Club series). In this series Martin gives us a sneak peek into Karen Brewer’s daily activities at school by showing us not what she is up to (she has her own series, after all) but what her classmates are struggling with in school and at home.
In book six, we meet the Barkan twins, Terri and Tammy. While they are definitely alike (samesies, as they call it in the book) we discover in this book that they are also very different. Terri and Tammy discover their first difference with the Stoneybrook Academy Readathon. By the end of the first day, Tammy has read double the pages that Terri got through. They don’t understand why they could be so different with their reading skills, but Terri certainly does not like it. In order to catch up with her twin sister, she plans to read nonstop through the weekend. When she still cannot catch up, Terri uses some desperate measures.
But Terri is not the only one that feels different. While trying out for the school choir, the twins soon realize that Terri is much better at singing than Tammy. So much so that Terri is awarded a solo at the ceremony for the Readathon. This difference also upsets the girls, but with a long talk from Grandma Doris about her experiences with her twin sister Martha, the girls realize that being different is okay. And in fact, being different is sometimes really fun.
Like many other Ann M. Martin series books, this story follows a particular pattern. We are introduced to the characters, story and setting. Then we are taken through the chapter 2 recap that appears in most of these series books. While helpful for those that picked up a random book, readers who go in series order or are already familiar with the characters in some way may find this recap redundant.
Overall, this book has a good message for young children. It is a great book for family reading at the end of the day or for children that are ready to read short chapter books.
Liked it
