The Day the Fifth Grade Disappeared: Difference between revisions

Julia's investigations take her inside a nearby military base that is literally right next door to the school, where she discovers the Vanisher, a machine that was being designed to make things disappear and reappear. She accidentally messes it up and gets herself embedded in a wall, half of her on one side, half on the other, freaking out a guard, but is soon freed by the scientist who built the device.

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* [[Child-Hater]] - The principal's secretary, nicknamed "The Dragon Lady" by the kids. While she's particularly nasty to kids, even other adults seem to dislike her.

* [[Fridge Horror]] - Julia ends up with a wall stuck halfway inside her body. Shouldn't that mess her up for life?

* [[Skepticism Failure]] - Paraphrased here: "Did you know that our entire class just disappeared, including you guys?" "Really? I didn't feel anything." "Yeah, I saw it and even left the room and asked for help." "Let's investigate!"

* [[Symbol Swearing]] and [[Narrative Profanity Filter]] - Both occur in a row.

* [[Take That]] - To ''[[My Teacher Is an Alien]]'', which was released a few years prior. That book had a scene in which the young hero followed a teacher all the way to his house, walking several blocks. In this book, however, Julia tries to follow the teacher home... but the teacher gets into a car. Julia curses herself for wasting her time and wonders, "Why didn't I think she'd drive a car? Just because kids walk everywhere doesn't mean adults do!"

* [[Techno Babble]] - [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] when the scientist is asked by a military official, "I suppose you have some scientific babble to explain this?" Then played semi-straight as the scientist tries to explain how his Vanisher works, but the narrative only sums up with some of the "big words" he uses and doesn't show his entire dialog.

[[Category:Children's Literature]]

[[Category:The Day the Fifth Grade Disappeared]]