Gail Gauthier "does not skimp on any chance for humor" (SLJ), especially the deadpan, irreverent kind. Meet her first female protagonist in a classroom comedy filled with truth.

School isn't a strong point for Therese LeClerc. She doesn't get invited to the parties she'd like to go to, and she isn't happy about the way she looks. As for her family, well, Therese's fondest hope is that she has been kidnapped by these people who claim to be her parents. When she is stuck doing an oral report on Ethan Allen (leader of the American victory of Fort Ticonderoga in the Revolutionary War), she's convinced he's just a boring, old, dead guy. But after giving the report several different times (until she gets it right), not only does she know more about the outrageous Ethan Allen than she could possibly want, she knows that heroes can take many different forms.