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Spying on Miss Muller
"A GOOD STORY WELL TOLD . . . Bunting shows the confusion and hysteria that wartime brings to the lives of the young, and in the process paints a true-to-life and often very funny picture of boarding school life in a more innocent era."
--Kirkus Reviews
Jessie and her best friends in boarding school have always loved their teacher, Miss Mü ller. Half-German and half-Irish, she's as beautiful as a movie star. But ever since their country, Ireland, went to war with Germany, they don't feel the same way. In fact, the girls now think there's something very strange about Miss Mü ller.
One night Jessie sees Miss Mü ller walking by herself in a part of the dorm that is off limits. When she tells her friends, they get really suspicious. But they will soon find out that appearances can be deceiving--and that judging someone can be downright dangerous. . . .
"Readers will be rewarded with a suspenseful story that includes family secrets, a first romance, plans of revenge, and an unforgettable friendship."
--Publishers Weekly Pick of the Lists
--Kirkus Reviews
Jessie and her best friends in boarding school have always loved their teacher, Miss Mü ller. Half-German and half-Irish, she's as beautiful as a movie star. But ever since their country, Ireland, went to war with Germany, they don't feel the same way. In fact, the girls now think there's something very strange about Miss Mü ller.
One night Jessie sees Miss Mü ller walking by herself in a part of the dorm that is off limits. When she tells her friends, they get really suspicious. But they will soon find out that appearances can be deceiving--and that judging someone can be downright dangerous. . . .
"Readers will be rewarded with a suspenseful story that includes family secrets, a first romance, plans of revenge, and an unforgettable friendship."
--Publishers Weekly Pick of the Lists
Library Binding
First published April 24, 1995
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220 people want to read
About the author
Eve Bunting
311 books409 followersAlso known as Evelyn Bolton and A.E. Bunting.
Anne Evelyn Bunting, better known as Eve Bunting, is an author with more than 250 books. Her books are diverse in age groups, from picture books to chapter books, and topic, ranging from Thanksgiving to riots in Los Angeles. Eve Bunting has won several awards for her works.
Bunting went to school in Ireland and grew up with storytelling. In Ireland, “There used to be Shanachies… the shanachie was a storyteller who went from house to house telling his tales of ghosts and fairies, of old Irish heroes and battles still to be won. Maybe I’m a bit of a Shanchie myself, telling stories to anyone who will listen.” This storytelling began as an inspiration for Bunting and continues with her work.
In 1958, Bunting moved to the United States with her husband and three children. A few years later, Bunting enrolled in a community college writing course. She felt the desire to write about her heritage. Bunting has taught writing classes at UCLA. She now lives in Pasadena, California.
Anne Evelyn Bunting, better known as Eve Bunting, is an author with more than 250 books. Her books are diverse in age groups, from picture books to chapter books, and topic, ranging from Thanksgiving to riots in Los Angeles. Eve Bunting has won several awards for her works.
Bunting went to school in Ireland and grew up with storytelling. In Ireland, “There used to be Shanachies… the shanachie was a storyteller who went from house to house telling his tales of ghosts and fairies, of old Irish heroes and battles still to be won. Maybe I’m a bit of a Shanchie myself, telling stories to anyone who will listen.” This storytelling began as an inspiration for Bunting and continues with her work.
In 1958, Bunting moved to the United States with her husband and three children. A few years later, Bunting enrolled in a community college writing course. She felt the desire to write about her heritage. Bunting has taught writing classes at UCLA. She now lives in Pasadena, California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
August 5, 2015
This, to me, is classic Middle Grade literature: not too long, great plot, and vivid characters. It takes place in a boarding school outside of Belfast during WW II where four girls begin to suspect that their German teacher, Miss Müller, is a spy for the Germans. There are also a few excellent subplots, especially one where one of these girls, Jessie, comes to terms with her father's alcoholism.
A beautifully written book!
A beautifully written book!
November 7, 2009
I really just did not enjoy this book. Maybe it was because it differed from how I interpretted the summary. It says Jesse goes snooping to prove Miss Muller's innocence, but she was just as judgemental as the rest of the students. And how she said stuff like, "I would feel sorry for her if she weren't a Nazi," that just grated on my nerves. I feel sorry for Miss Muller. Having lost her job and love because of some nosy little brats who have no respect for their superiors. And what Jesse said at the end about how she imagined Miss Muller forgiving and understanding, that they never really hated her? No one turns their back on someone that they don't hate. The only reason I read to the end was to find out if anything happened with Lizzie Mag.
Sorry if you don't feel the same. Maybe I'm just too young to understand. But from where I come from, that's pure, concentrated hate, and we don't tolerate disrespect, especially to our elders.
Sorry if you don't feel the same. Maybe I'm just too young to understand. But from where I come from, that's pure, concentrated hate, and we don't tolerate disrespect, especially to our elders.
November 14, 2012
I always enjoy a good school story and Eve Bunting's somewhat autobiographical novel Spying on Miss Müller is not exception. It is 1941 and Jessie Drumm, 13, and her friends Lizzie Mag (really Elizabeth Margaret after the English princesses), Ada and Maureen all attend the co-ed Alveara boarding school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. And so far, the war has not affected them much. Still, it doesn't prevent them from convincing themselves that their formerly favorite German teacher, Miss Müller, is really a spy who is somehow sending coded signals to the Nazis from within the school. The fact that Miss Müller was only half German and that she was also half Irish didn't seem to factor into their thinking. Now, as the war progresses, they are giving her the cold shoulder, despite the kindness she had shown her students in the past.
Certain they are right, all the girls need is some concrete proof of her spying.
But how to get that proof? After Jessie gets up one night to go to the bathroom and sees Miss Müller leaving her room, she decides to follow her. The only problem is that Jessie loses her on the stairs leading to the roof right near the 'coffin' room, so called because the girls believe it it haunted by the ghost of Marjorie. Not willing to go further in the dark, Jessie turns back. No sooner does Jessie return to her dorm and the air raid siren goes off.
What a coincidence, the girls think, that Belfast should be bombed for the first time on the very night Miss Müller is seen heading towards the roof. Surely she must have sent a signal to the waiting Nazis to send planes and bombs.
As the four friends plan their strategy to follow and catch Miss Müller, Jessie lets their scheme out of the bag to loner Greta Ludowski, a Jewish refugee who got out of Poland before the Nazi invasion, though her parents were not so lucky. Now her father was dead at the hands of the Nazis and Greta wants vindication. She demands to be let in on the action to get Miss Müller and make her pay for what her countrymen did. Then Jessie discovers that she may have something more to worry about. Her extremely sharp metal nail file is missing and she later discovers it in Greta's possession. Could Greta be planning something very sinister?
Despite what she says, Jessie still has doubts about whether or not Miss Müller is really a German spy, after all, she had always been so kind to the girls. But when the opportunity to search Miss Müller's room comes her way, Jessie loses the modicum of doubt and sympathy she may have felt when she finds a picture of her teacher's father, - dressed in a Nazi uniform.
The girls are more determined than ever to catch Miss Müller and expose her as spy masquerading as a teacher, but in the end, Miss Müller has one more lesson to teach her students and it just may be the most important lesson of all.
One of the nicest thing about this novel is the sense of realism that Eve Bunting has created. She has written that this school story was based on her own experiences at a Belfast boarding school during World War II: "I remember the good times and the bad times. I was homesick. There was a war on and our city was bombed. We listened for air raid sirens, carried our gas masks everywhere, ate food so bad it was indescribable." All of this and more has been captured so well in Spying on Miss Müller, making it sad, funny, historical, important.
Nazi hysteria gripped much of Britain for quite a while when the Second World War began. Understandably, people were afraid of invasion, Fifth Columnists, spies and saboteurs and sometimes went a bit overboard with thinking someone was a Nazi. Kids heard adults talking about this stuff and often got caught up in the fervor. It is easy to see how a group of students at a boarding school could easily transfer that hysteria onto a half German, half Irish teacher as a way to contain their fear.
This is a tight, well-written novel, as well as one very few novels written for young readers that show what life was like in the war in Northern Ireland.
This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from The Bank Street College of Education Library
Certain they are right, all the girls need is some concrete proof of her spying.
But how to get that proof? After Jessie gets up one night to go to the bathroom and sees Miss Müller leaving her room, she decides to follow her. The only problem is that Jessie loses her on the stairs leading to the roof right near the 'coffin' room, so called because the girls believe it it haunted by the ghost of Marjorie. Not willing to go further in the dark, Jessie turns back. No sooner does Jessie return to her dorm and the air raid siren goes off.
What a coincidence, the girls think, that Belfast should be bombed for the first time on the very night Miss Müller is seen heading towards the roof. Surely she must have sent a signal to the waiting Nazis to send planes and bombs.
As the four friends plan their strategy to follow and catch Miss Müller, Jessie lets their scheme out of the bag to loner Greta Ludowski, a Jewish refugee who got out of Poland before the Nazi invasion, though her parents were not so lucky. Now her father was dead at the hands of the Nazis and Greta wants vindication. She demands to be let in on the action to get Miss Müller and make her pay for what her countrymen did. Then Jessie discovers that she may have something more to worry about. Her extremely sharp metal nail file is missing and she later discovers it in Greta's possession. Could Greta be planning something very sinister?
Despite what she says, Jessie still has doubts about whether or not Miss Müller is really a German spy, after all, she had always been so kind to the girls. But when the opportunity to search Miss Müller's room comes her way, Jessie loses the modicum of doubt and sympathy she may have felt when she finds a picture of her teacher's father, - dressed in a Nazi uniform.
The girls are more determined than ever to catch Miss Müller and expose her as spy masquerading as a teacher, but in the end, Miss Müller has one more lesson to teach her students and it just may be the most important lesson of all.
One of the nicest thing about this novel is the sense of realism that Eve Bunting has created. She has written that this school story was based on her own experiences at a Belfast boarding school during World War II: "I remember the good times and the bad times. I was homesick. There was a war on and our city was bombed. We listened for air raid sirens, carried our gas masks everywhere, ate food so bad it was indescribable." All of this and more has been captured so well in Spying on Miss Müller, making it sad, funny, historical, important.
Nazi hysteria gripped much of Britain for quite a while when the Second World War began. Understandably, people were afraid of invasion, Fifth Columnists, spies and saboteurs and sometimes went a bit overboard with thinking someone was a Nazi. Kids heard adults talking about this stuff and often got caught up in the fervor. It is easy to see how a group of students at a boarding school could easily transfer that hysteria onto a half German, half Irish teacher as a way to contain their fear.
This is a tight, well-written novel, as well as one very few novels written for young readers that show what life was like in the war in Northern Ireland.
This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from The Bank Street College of Education Library
December 14, 2025
Beautiful writing, believable characters. I was drawn into the story, however I couldn't stand the main girl characters. And the ending sucked. But otherwise, I can see how this won an award or two. Excellent writing for a middle grade.
April 23, 2019
There’s so much realistic and authentic detail to this book that I felt like I was one of the female students at Alveara Boarding School! I love the way Eve Bunting slowly developed the characters of Jessie, Greta, and Miss Müller and the character of the time period itself. I did feel like the plot wrapped up too quickly (within about 5 pages!) and though there was a good amount of tension and bitter-sweetness driving the end of the book, I would have liked to have seen a longer denouement.
September 21, 2013
I finished this book yesterday but it has stuck with me. This story is deep on so many levels. I think I find myself reading three stars because it disturbs me so much. The idea of what happens when mob thinking takes over. What fear and paranoia will do to you. More than that what fear and paranoia does to people around you. I'm left unsettled after reading this book. Maybe I should read it higher, but I can't seem to right now.
February 7, 2018
I read this almost 15 years ago when I was in middle school, but I remember absolutely loving this. It mixes an all girl boarding school/dorm historical setting, which I love, with a mystery. It's obviously been quite a while since I've read this but I still think about it when looking back on books I read as a child as one of my favorites. I don't know if I read it now if it would be as entertaining, but I believe it's great for it's intended age group.
July 29, 2021
Kind of sad... Gossip and fear ruin someone’s life and reputation... Children are cruel...
September 13, 2019
Two and a half stars. I read this in ebook form. It was the first ebook I've read, and I'm eager to check out more if physical copies aren't available at my library, as was the case with this book. I was excited to press a button and 'return' it at eleven o'clock at night, a few minutes after I finished reading it. This book showed up in my Goodreads feed as, I think, 'someone wants to read this'. Instantly, I was transported back to fifth grade. I read this multiple times, then, and turned in a fanfiction of it as a school assignment. Students worked on their assignments for six weeks. I cranked mine out in a week and nearly tried to send to a real publishing company, but my mom gently persuaded me not to. I had no idea what fanfiction was at the time, let alone about the golden rule that says not to profit off of fanfiction. (under his breath) An adult claimed that too, some years ago and wound up making millions of dollars. (back to normal) So, I turned in my twenty-page fanfiction as a school assignment. The book had a huge impact on me. I wanted that feeling of awe back as an adult. That's not what happened.
I was surprised at how much I remembered, and was pleased to discover this is another book that was written in a voice and view that's realistic for a thirteen-year-old. This was a really good introduction for teens to the themes it presented, but simplistic for adults. Target audience and all that. A group of girls in a boarding school decide to spy on their teacher, who they think is a German spy, during WWII. The main character, Jessie, is conflicted between her favorite teacher being suspected of espionage, and suspecting her, herself. The scene with the ball bearings during German class was even sadder to me as an adult, and the way Miss Muller is treated from beginning to end. The prefects and teachers give the students a hard time for kissing during an air raid, but I remember clearly doing something similar. Not during an air raid, but an evacuation drill. Some parts of tween-hood I couldn't help but smile at, remembering things I got up to innocently, too. My heart warmed when the students plugged their ears and hummed rather than hear a note read out loud as punishment. There's quite a few subtle examples in this about power corrupting people, and authority figures being jerks because they forgot what it was like before they were in power.
I had forgotten entirely about Greta, though. I don't care how realistic this book was in its portrayal of Northern Irish private school girls during World War II or the issues they faced. There was no need whatsoever to write Greta the way she was. I'll count some harmful stereotypes and comment on some since the author made her decision and I can make mine.
1. Polish Jewish: A Polish Jewish student winds up in Northern Ireland, with half a sentence to explain how she got there? No, it needs to be expanded on further. This needs serious world-building and backstory. This tipped me off that it was only gonna get worse in certain ways, and I was correct on all counts.
2. Jewish girl in a Catholic boarding school: this stereotype has been done to death and I hate it. It's usually "Catholic schools are strict and we'll rein in her wild behavior." This is not okay on so many levels. Here, though, it was "we saved her from certain death but she can sit outside on the front steps during prayer time." Not go back to her dorm or something, but sit outside. In the cold and rain. Not a fan of this.
3. Jewish girl steals and lies about it, complete with a thousand-yard stare.
4. Jewish girl steals sharp object from Catholic girl who's higher on the social ladder.
5. Jewish girl steals sharp object with the implied intent of at least hurting someone if not more.
6. Jewish girl hates everyone, has no friends, and never talks to anyone, leading others to think she doesn't know English.
7. Jewish girl has family killed in Shoah and hates German teacher -and tells other students her plans-, with the second part of the sentence being unrealistic.
And she's implied to be a charity student. She's the untrustworthy one, arguably the antagonist of the piece. She's supposed to be super-creepy. I was just angry at the author every time Greta was on the page. It occurs to me that she's probably supposed to be a character foil for Jessie, but--the author chose to write the character foil this specific way. It was really not needed. The author introduced so many other themes and conflicts that she could have fleshed out. I'm glad I read this as an ebook.
I was surprised at how much I remembered, and was pleased to discover this is another book that was written in a voice and view that's realistic for a thirteen-year-old. This was a really good introduction for teens to the themes it presented, but simplistic for adults. Target audience and all that. A group of girls in a boarding school decide to spy on their teacher, who they think is a German spy, during WWII. The main character, Jessie, is conflicted between her favorite teacher being suspected of espionage, and suspecting her, herself. The scene with the ball bearings during German class was even sadder to me as an adult, and the way Miss Muller is treated from beginning to end. The prefects and teachers give the students a hard time for kissing during an air raid, but I remember clearly doing something similar. Not during an air raid, but an evacuation drill. Some parts of tween-hood I couldn't help but smile at, remembering things I got up to innocently, too. My heart warmed when the students plugged their ears and hummed rather than hear a note read out loud as punishment. There's quite a few subtle examples in this about power corrupting people, and authority figures being jerks because they forgot what it was like before they were in power.
I had forgotten entirely about Greta, though. I don't care how realistic this book was in its portrayal of Northern Irish private school girls during World War II or the issues they faced. There was no need whatsoever to write Greta the way she was. I'll count some harmful stereotypes and comment on some since the author made her decision and I can make mine.
1. Polish Jewish: A Polish Jewish student winds up in Northern Ireland, with half a sentence to explain how she got there? No, it needs to be expanded on further. This needs serious world-building and backstory. This tipped me off that it was only gonna get worse in certain ways, and I was correct on all counts.
2. Jewish girl in a Catholic boarding school: this stereotype has been done to death and I hate it. It's usually "Catholic schools are strict and we'll rein in her wild behavior." This is not okay on so many levels. Here, though, it was "we saved her from certain death but she can sit outside on the front steps during prayer time." Not go back to her dorm or something, but sit outside. In the cold and rain. Not a fan of this.
3. Jewish girl steals and lies about it, complete with a thousand-yard stare.
4. Jewish girl steals sharp object from Catholic girl who's higher on the social ladder.
5. Jewish girl steals sharp object with the implied intent of at least hurting someone if not more.
6. Jewish girl hates everyone, has no friends, and never talks to anyone, leading others to think she doesn't know English.
7. Jewish girl has family killed in Shoah and hates German teacher -and tells other students her plans-, with the second part of the sentence being unrealistic.
And she's implied to be a charity student. She's the untrustworthy one, arguably the antagonist of the piece. She's supposed to be super-creepy. I was just angry at the author every time Greta was on the page. It occurs to me that she's probably supposed to be a character foil for Jessie, but--the author chose to write the character foil this specific way. It was really not needed. The author introduced so many other themes and conflicts that she could have fleshed out. I'm glad I read this as an ebook.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2025
Something of a coming of age story, though it only covers a very short period of time. Jessie Drumm is a boarder at a school in Northern Ireland during the Second World War. The other three girls in her dormitory think their German teacher, Miss Müller (who is half-German, half-Irish) could be a German spy, so they decide to spy on her. Jessie is not convinced, but joins in anyway. They school experiences their first air raid, and in the shelter Jessie receives her first kiss. But she also learns several lessons that aren't in the school curriculum. I only wish there were more books about her.
June 9, 2023
This is historical fiction about friends at a boarding school in Ireland during WWII. They think a teacher who is half German is a spy, so they make plans to prove it.
I don’t care for historical fiction much anymore. I got tired of reading them. However, I enjoyed this book because I like the characters and the setting. I think kids in junior high would like it the most, especially since it’s not a long story. Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. I’m a slow reader, and I finished it in a day, which is saying something even though it’s short.
I don’t care for historical fiction much anymore. I got tired of reading them. However, I enjoyed this book because I like the characters and the setting. I think kids in junior high would like it the most, especially since it’s not a long story. Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. I’m a slow reader, and I finished it in a day, which is saying something even though it’s short.
December 15, 2024
Daphne Muller, half German (her Father) and half Irish (her Mother) teaches in a boarding school in Belfast during WW2. Four 13 year old girls think that Miss Muller is a Nazi Spy. On the night that Miss Muller goes up to the roof, an air raid happens. Did she signal to the German planes to drop the bombs that fell close to the school? The girls used to like her as a sweet teacher but now, she is the only German at their school and their country is at war.
March 24, 2017
One of my favorite books as a kid. I don't know how many times I've read it (over a dozen), but still wonderful to revisit as an adult.
May 20, 2017
Very well-written.
June 14, 2017
This book reminded me of Nancy Drew only the characters are English boarding school girls. With sexual innuendo, I can only recommend this book for readers age 13+.
May 28, 2021
I don't know what prompted it, but this book popped into my head recently as one I remember enjoying as a kid, so I'm adding it.
March 20, 2023
This was my favourite book as a teenager
June 11, 2024
Was not too impressed with this book.
August 22, 2024
Example # 335768585 on why I don't like "victims" or "good guys", and also why children need to be beaten.
April 9, 2025
i have read this at least 8 times in my adolescence. absolutely wonderful
Read
October 5, 2025This book pops into my head sometimes. Only because of Jessie’s first kiss. The most well written first kiss? So strange how I remember reading about it, I was so young!
November 17, 2025
A good WWII historical fiction novel for middle school girls.
February 22, 2024
This review does have some spoilers!
Let's start with how the ending was written 👐
Why? Why Mr Bolton and Miss Müller 😭
And how Mr Bolton kept his job whilst Miss Müller got fired! 🙄 Poor Miss Müller did not deserve that egg.
Greta.... Greta.... okay WHY WHY?! Greta had me worried with the nail filer.. if it wasn't for her Miss Müller would not have been fired. Yes the silent grieving girl who wants vengeance.. I did not like her character overall.
And Ian and Jessie!! ❤️ I really liked how Ian wrote that note so sweetly, and how he wasn't just some rude jerk!!! But they weren't really there 😕
This book had me interested don't get me wrong, I just wasn't really satisfied with the ending otherwise I really enjoyed the book! A good read and definitely not the worst read of 2024. I wish the book was longer maybye to make up for the poor ending 😢
And show us more of Jessie and Ian I would be very pleased if that happened 😊
Maybye I'm just being dramatic over a ending but that's one of the most important parts of a book!
Let's start with how the ending was written 👐
Why? Why Mr Bolton and Miss Müller 😭
And how Mr Bolton kept his job whilst Miss Müller got fired! 🙄 Poor Miss Müller did not deserve that egg.
Greta.... Greta.... okay WHY WHY?! Greta had me worried with the nail filer.. if it wasn't for her Miss Müller would not have been fired. Yes the silent grieving girl who wants vengeance.. I did not like her character overall.
And Ian and Jessie!! ❤️ I really liked how Ian wrote that note so sweetly, and how he wasn't just some rude jerk!!! But they weren't really there 😕
This book had me interested don't get me wrong, I just wasn't really satisfied with the ending otherwise I really enjoyed the book! A good read and definitely not the worst read of 2024. I wish the book was longer maybye to make up for the poor ending 😢
And show us more of Jessie and Ian I would be very pleased if that happened 😊
Maybye I'm just being dramatic over a ending but that's one of the most important parts of a book!
November 27, 2023
A bit of Bunting's life, no doubt, starring Jessie, who is from the town of Ballyho with its four pubs for thirty houses, and her friends at boarding school during the second world war. There we learn of coping skills like using a spoon as a mirror since you're forbidden to turn around at the dinner table, being threatened with imaginary "verrucas" to deter going barefoot, and the rough toilet paper the girls call "last resort". And boys of course, also forbidden. Bunting paints in the time with old songs like Mother Machree and We're Going to Hang Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line, with Lord Haw Haw on the radio. But into this charming reminiscence comes a rather complex situation: a young German teacher the girls suddenly suspect of being a spy, a mysterious Jewish refugee from Poland, and the discovery of secrets some of the girls hold. The girls can be forgiven their naiveté due to their age: "The RAF would never kill civilians," says one. "They're too decent." But the wartime suspicions turn ugly. I've not yet read a Bunting book where the knotty issue she treats is resolved neatly, and this one was no exception. I did like that Jessie, for all her suspicions, did take the trouble to find out for herself whether one of the rumors she heard was true. It gave me hope for her character.
June 30, 2016
When I was a kid, I'd go to the library with those big L.L. Bean bags and just scoop books off the shelves and into the totes. I didn't even bother looking at the titles half the time; I wanted to read every book in the library. As it turns out, I found many a gem by that practice, and Eve Bunting's historical middle grade, Spying on Miss Muller is one such book.
The story follows a young girl named Jessie, who goes to boarding school in London (edit: Belfast) during World War II. The novel starts off with the entire school huddling together in the basement during an air raid. Sounds dark, right? Don't worry. This isn't Life After Life. Something does happen though, and it is, hands down, one of the most hilarious things I've ever read. That's middle grade historical fiction for you, mixing harsh realities with the magic of childhood.
If you have children in your life who love to read, hunt down a copy of this great book for them! Their gender doesn't matter, either. Although the book follows a girl and her friends, my brother loved this book as well.
The story follows a young girl named Jessie, who goes to boarding school in London (edit: Belfast) during World War II. The novel starts off with the entire school huddling together in the basement during an air raid. Sounds dark, right? Don't worry. This isn't Life After Life. Something does happen though, and it is, hands down, one of the most hilarious things I've ever read. That's middle grade historical fiction for you, mixing harsh realities with the magic of childhood.
If you have children in your life who love to read, hunt down a copy of this great book for them! Their gender doesn't matter, either. Although the book follows a girl and her friends, my brother loved this book as well.
Read
September 1, 2011Spying on Miss Muller is a mystery about a girl named Jessie that goes to a boarding school in Belfast. Her German teacher, Miss Muller, climbs the stairs to an off limits place, and Jessie was spying on her. Readers think that Miss Muller was a Nazi agent. Later on that night, an air raid comes to Belfast and hits their school. Jessie tries to prove Miss
Muller's innocence. Jessie's friends, Ada and Maureen, try to prove that Miss Muller is guilty.
I would agree with Ada and Maureen because Miss Muller acts very suspicious. Jessie finds out that her favorite cousin, Bryan has been captured from the Nazis. Another night, Miss Muller goes upstairs again and Jessie and her friends follow her. They find her in a room with another teacher. Miss Muller was not a spy after all. She was talking to the other teacher because they were in love. She was innocent. But in the end, Miss Muller gets fired and Ada leaves boarding school because of the danger.
Muller's innocence. Jessie's friends, Ada and Maureen, try to prove that Miss Muller is guilty.
I would agree with Ada and Maureen because Miss Muller acts very suspicious. Jessie finds out that her favorite cousin, Bryan has been captured from the Nazis. Another night, Miss Muller goes upstairs again and Jessie and her friends follow her. They find her in a room with another teacher. Miss Muller was not a spy after all. She was talking to the other teacher because they were in love. She was innocent. But in the end, Miss Muller gets fired and Ada leaves boarding school because of the danger.
March 12, 2007
Most of the boarders at the Alveara school had fathers, brothers, uncles serving in the army or the Royal Air Force. My faviorite cousin, Bryan, was in the army fighting Germans somewhere in France. Bryan was like a brother to me, since i didnt have a brother, or a sister either. Now he was in danger, and here we were with Miss Muller, a half German, the dorm mistress in our dormitory.
"We;re contaminated," Ada Sinclair said.
Secretly I didnt think we were contaminated. I still liked Miss Muller. But I was Carful not to defend her too much. Itwas awful to be called Jessie the German lover, and thats what Mean Jean ROss had called me at break last Friday.
I copied this at the back of the book
"We;re contaminated," Ada Sinclair said.
Secretly I didnt think we were contaminated. I still liked Miss Muller. But I was Carful not to defend her too much. Itwas awful to be called Jessie the German lover, and thats what Mean Jean ROss had called me at break last Friday.
I copied this at the back of the book
October 10, 2014
I thought this book was okay. This book was hard for me to get into and it was very slow. It was hard for me to finish, because it wasn't interesting. I recomend this novel to anyone who likes historical fiction.
The story started before World War II began. Jessie and her friends at Alveara boarding school in Belfast liked their German teacher, Miss Muller. After Jessie sees the teacher climbing to the roof at night, she and the others wonder if Miss Muller is a secret agent. Hoping to prove her teacher's innocence, Jessie agrees to help spy on her. This novel was well written, but not for me.
The story started before World War II began. Jessie and her friends at Alveara boarding school in Belfast liked their German teacher, Miss Muller. After Jessie sees the teacher climbing to the roof at night, she and the others wonder if Miss Muller is a secret agent. Hoping to prove her teacher's innocence, Jessie agrees to help spy on her. This novel was well written, but not for me.
February 17, 2016
In the book Spying on Miss Muller, Jessie is a young girl at a boarding school set during World War 2. Jessie and her friends have always loved Miss Muller, their German teacher who is half-German herself. But after the war started feelings change. Miss Muller has to deal with comments and with rude looks. Jessie doesn't know how to feel about Miss Muller. But then one night Jessie sees Miss Muller alone sneaking up the corridor with a flashlight. That same night there is a bomb raid. Could there be a connection? Jessie and her friends decide to discover the truth. I recommend this book to those who enjoy historical fiction, and reading about World War 2. I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.
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