The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class: Thunder Nelson Does the Impossumble

Meet the kids in Mrs. Z's wacky and wonderful third grade class! When Mrs. Z's class is looking for an animal to "adopt," Thunder Nelson knows just the critter--the baby possum she just saved. But Thunder isn't ready for what happens when a wild animal goes to school!

Mrs. Z's class is voting on a small class mascot, since big animals tend to get all the attention. But Thunder hates voting--it's like sports but less fun. Everyone is nominating tardigrades, while Thunder is hoping for something fuzzy, like a hamster.

Then she finds an abandoned baby possum and has a brilliant idea. She'll bring the possum to school and convince the class it should be their mascot! How could they resist picking a real, live animal? But when Thunder's plan goes off the rails, the possum--and the class--may end up in danger if Thunder can't find a way to fix her mistakes.

Both sweetly poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, with black-and-white illustrations by Pura Belpré Honor artist Kat Fajardo, Thunder's story invites readers into Mrs. Z's class where friendship and fun rule the school.

Perfect for!
★ My Weirdtastic School fans
★ Reluctant readers
★ Classroom read-alouds
★ Andrew Clements fans
★ Animal lovers!
★ Anyone who's had to fix a mistake

Read them all! The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class have plenty of stories to share!
Emma McKenna, Full Out (#1)
Rohan Murthy Has a Plan (#2)
Poppy Song Bakes a Way (#3)
The Legend of Memo Castillo (#4)
Wyatt Hill Brings a Lizard to School (#5)
Ayana Ndoum Takes the Stage (#6)
Olive Little Gets Crafty (#7)
Synclaire Fields Knows the Score (#8)
Theo Chang is Not a Cat (#9) -- available for preorder now!
Thunder Nelson Does the Impossumble (#10) -- available for preorder now!
Sebastian Metzger Solves a Sticky Situation (#11) -- available for preorder now!
Fia Hosein Finds Her Beat (#12) -- available for preorder now!

*The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class is an innovative series where every book is written by a different all-star author and features a different kid in the same third-grade class. They can be read in any order!

Author: Martha Brockenbrough
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 11/04/2025
Pages: 144
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.32lbs
Size: 7.78h x 5.59w x 0.42d
ISBN: 9781523532971
Audience: Ages 9-12


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 11/01/2025

About the Author
Martha Brockenbrough is the author of more than twenty books for young readers and is the program director at the University of San Francisco's MFA in Writing for Young Readers. She founded National Grammar Day (March 4), has written game questions for Cranium and Trivial Pursuit, and is the author of the Frank and the Puppy series, This Old Dog, and To Catch a Thief, which won the Sid Fleischman Humor Award. Martha lives in Seattle with her family. She invites you to visit her online at marthabrockenbrough.com.

Kat Fajardo (they/she) received a Pura Belpré Honor for Illustration for their first graphic novel, Miss Quinces (published in Spanish as Srta. Quinces). Born and raised in New York City, Kat now lives in Austin, Texas, with their pups, Mac and Roni. They invite you to visit them at katfajardo.com.