"How does a teacher transform the brightest, most well-behaved Grade Six class into the most boisterous, lowest-performing group, within one term? " asked Principal Wedderburn. This sounds like a job for Mr. Daye Peter Daye poses as his deceased brother, Alfred, so that he can get a teaching job and "become somebody." He is assigned to a Grade Six class, the Creme de la creme, formerly the domain of the very proficient and very accomplished Mrs. Purdy. Of course, Mr. Daye has no idea what he is getting himself into He seems to have a knack for bringing out the worst in the pupils, and they seem to be drifting further and further away from the high standards set by Mrs. Purdy. With external exams on the horizon, who knows where this train is headed? Will it be stopped in the nick of time by Miss Nessa, the diligent young teacher with whom Mr. Daye is infatuated? Or, will the enraged Principal Wedderburn be forced to take matters into his own hands? What will become of Mr. Daye? What will become of Mrs. Purdy's precious charges? Open the book and find out, as Mr. Daye does, what this teaching thing is all about "