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Twin Trouble is the sixth book in The Kids in Ms. Colman's Class series. It focuses on students Terri Barkan and Tammy Barkan.

Back Cover[]

Terri and Tammy love being twins. They do everything alike. But then Tammy starts to lead the school Readathon. Terri is way behind her. What is happening to the twins? Why aren't they samesies anymore?

Summary[]

Main Plot[]

Terri and Tammy Barkan are identical twins who often say the same thing at the same time and do everything together. When they say or do the same thing at the same time, they lock pinkies in a pinky swear. They used to dress alike but in first grade started to dress differently more often so that people could tell them apart.

Ms. Colman announces that their school, Stoneybrook Academy, is starting a new project - a readathon sponsored by Burger Town, a local restaurant. The readathon will last for a month and will raise money for the school library by giving the school $100 for every 1000 pages the students read. After each student finishes a book, their teacher will ask them a few questions about the book to ensure that they understood it. The school will keep track of pages read via a caterpillar in the hallway, where each segment of the caterpillar's body represents 250 pages. The class that reads the most pages and the student that reads the most pages will win a prize. In Ms. Colman's class, a half hour each day in class will be reserved for reading to help the students read as much as they can.

During the first class reading period, Terri finds out Tammy has read 41 pages, while she only read 24. She finds this odd because she and Tammy always do everything the same, yet they read a significantly differently number of pages. The next day, Tammy is almost done with her third book while Terri isn't sure she'll finish her second. Being so different from Tammy feels very wrong to Terri.

The next time they check in, Tammy read 5 and a half books over the weekend while Terri read two and a half. They discuss whether they can be samesies again by having Tammy read slower, but ultimately decide Terri will try to read faster. They feel weird being different, so they decide to dress alike the next day.

The next day, Mr. Saffron, the music teacher, announces that he will be in charge of a new choir at Stoneybrook Academy, and he will be holding tryouts for interested students. From Ms. Colman's class, Jannie Gilbert, Omar Harris, Ian Johnson, and Terri and Tammy try out, but only Omar, Terri, and Tammy are selected. Terri and Tammy are happy because they are samesies again.

On Tuesday, Terri finishes Becky Morton and the Snowstorm but when Ms. Colman asks her questions about what happened in the book, she can't answer because she read the book too fast, so Ms. Colman tells her she can't count the book. The next day, Terri goes to room 2A after lunch and find the paper with students names and number of pages read, and writes a number next to her name that is the same as Tammy's much higher number. Ms. Colman catches her, and takes her to the principal's office to call her parents. Her punishment is she can't watch television for two weeks. When her parents understand that her reason for cheating is that she and Tammy aren't samesies anymore, they announce that it is time for Grandma Doris, who was an identical twin herself, to come visit.

The next choir practice, Mr. Saffron announces that they will perform at the readathon program and there will be tryouts for three different solos. After tryouts, the soloists selected are Max Lieb, Kate Gibbel, and Terri Barkan. The twins are disappointed to note that they are different again.

When Grandma Doris arrives, she shows the twins a photo album of her and her identical twin sister when they were younger. Grandma Doris explains she and her sister, Terri and Tammy's Great-aunt Martha who died two years ago, dressed differently and had different personalities. Tammy tells Grandma Doris she is doing well at the readathon, and Terri tells her she will be singing a solo at the readathon assembly. When Grandma Doris leaves, the twins come away feeling that it is okay to be different.

At the readathon assembly, the choir performs two songs, one with Max's solo and one with Kate's solo. Then, Mrs. Titus, the principal, explains how the readathon works and that the students read 112,000 pages, which earned $11,200 for their library. Henry Coles, from Burger Town, gives the principal a check. Mrs. King's fourth graders win the prize for the class that read the most pages. The student who reads the most pages in each class wins a prize too, and Tammy wins this prize for Ms. Colman's class. Then, the choir sings one last song with Terri's solo. Terri is proud of herself and Tammy for their respective talents and having the courage to be different.

Secondary Plots[]

Characters in this book[]

Students

Family

  • Mr. Barkan
  • Mrs. Barkan
  • Grandma Doris
  • Great aunt Martha (mentioned)

Other

  • Ms. Colman
  • Mr. Berger - the other second grade teacher, who takes some students to the library
  • Mr. Saffron - music teacher in charge of the choir
  • Mrs. Dade - music teacher who plays piano
  • Mrs. Titus - principal, explains how the readathon works at the assembly
  • Max Lieb - first student soloist
  • Kate Gibbel - second student soloist
  • Henry Coles - representative of Burger Town at the school assembly

Places in this book[]

Trivia[]

  • On the dedication page it says: "This book is for Elizabeth Strutton."
  • Continuity: Mrs. Barkan mentions that Mrs. Johnson was going to have a baby, this is first mentioned in Snow War.
  • Books mentioned: Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Chronicles of Narnia.
  • Pop culture and real life references: Annie (musical).
  • Terri mentions that she and Tammy no longer have their frog, Frank, that they brought to school in Teacher's Pet.
  • Burger Town, a restaurant in Stoneybrook which has appeared in others books, sponsors the school's readathon.
  • Mr. and Mrs. Barkan would consider having another baby, but make no promises.
  • Karen knows how to braid hair.
  • Sara sits next to Terri, Ricky sits behind her, and Chris sits in front of her.
  • Before Pamela joins the class Jannie and Leslie are the best enemies of Karen, Hannie, and Nancy.
  • Terri is afraid of Bobby, she thinks Omar is okay, and likes Ian.
  • There are 230 students at Stoneybrook Academy in this book and the school goes up to the fifth grade in this book.
  • Stoneybrook Academy starts their first choir in this book; Terri, Tammy, and Omar made the cut. Jannie did not.
  • Soloists for the choir performance is Max Lieb, Kate Gibbel, and Terri.
  • Terri and Tammy haven't seen their grandmother in 3 years.
  • Burger Town donated 112,000 pages to Stoneybrook Academy's library.
  • Tammy read the most books in Ms. Colman's class.

Gallery[]

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