T. R. Burns

After accidentally killing a substitute teacher with an apple, twelve-year-old Seamus Hinkle is sent to Kilter Academy where, in order to excel as he always has, he must behave badly and pull pranks on his teachers, but along with new friends Lemon and Elinor he discovers that there is more to the Academy than meets the eye.

The Bad Apple

More mischief and trouble abound during Seamus Hinkle's second semester at Kilter Academy, where the students earn credit for behaving badly and the adults are keeping huge secrets.

A World of Trouble

When the Kilter Academy students go on retreat with their parents, it’s the more mischief the merrier in this third book of a trouble-loving middle grade series! Seamus Hinkle has encountered a good deal of mystery and a lot of secrets since he first started at Kilter Academy. The longer he’s there, the more unanswered questions he seems to have. At last it seems like he just might get some answers as he and his troublemaker friends prepare for a huge event: a Kilter Academy retreat in the Adirondack mountains with all the students…and their parents. Will Seamus finally learn how his mother is connected to Annika, the mercurial headmistress of Kilter? Will he discover Annika’s true purpose for the Kilter students? And how will the students from the rival school, the Incriminators, play into all of this? It’s hard to say, but one thing is for sure—there will be plenty of trouble along the way!

Watch Your Step

After accidentally killing a teacher with an apple, twelve-year-old Seamus Hinkle is sent to Kilter Academy where, to excel, he must behave badly and pull pranks, but he discovers that there is more to the Academy than meets the eye.

“It’s easy to get drawn into this fast-paced, funny, and entertaining adventure” (Publishers Weekly) about a school where making trouble is highly encouraged. Twelve-year-old Seamus Hinkle is a good kid with a perfect school record—until the day of the unfortunate apple incident. Seamus is immediately shipped off to a detention facility—only to discover that Kilter Academy is actually a school to mold future Troublemakers, where demerits are awarded as a prize for bad behavior and each student is tasked to pull various pranks on their teachers in order to excel. Initially determined to avoid any more mishaps, Seamus nonetheless inadvertently emerges as a uniquely skilled troublemaker. Together with new friends Lemon and Elinor, he rises to the top of his class while beginning to discover that Kilter Academy has some major secrets and surprises in store….

Sometimes you find trouble, and sometimes trouble finds you. The mischief continues in the second book of a trouble-loving middle grade series! It’s Seamus Hinkle’s second semester at Kilter Academy, where he’s quickly become an ace troublemaking student. In fact, the headmistress has even entrusted him with a special assignment—one he’s forbidden to share with any of his friends. But Seamus has also come up with his own mission, and it’s a doozy. If Seamus and Lemon, Abe, and Gabby can pull off this cross-country adventure to rescue one of their own, they’ll earn extra-credit demerits for sure. And they might just learn the truth about some huge secrets the adults around them have been keeping... The second book in T.R. Burns’s Merits of Mischief series boasts the same “irresistible appeal” (BCCB) of Book One, and is sure to leave you clamoring for the next installment.

T. R. Burns

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