A Review of Virgina L. Minickūs

Desperately Seeking Humor:
Incredible and Satirical Tales of a Substitute Teacher

by Terrie Leigh Relf

I don’t usually write reviews. So why am I writing this one? Come on–look at

the title! It’s right up my alley. For those of you who don’t know, I’m also an adjunct professor, which makes me a close cousin to the substitute teacher. True, there are differences. I have my students for two-four months, depending upon which semester it is, while Minick meets new students every day.

I’m also living on the edge with insufficient funds to pay my student loans, maxed-out credit cards, and so forth. Another difference is that I don’t work with children; but there are teens in my class, some of which are enrolled in dual-certificate programs and others who "graduate" from high school early to attend college.

Oh yeah, and my students say that I’m kinda funny. Bizarre. But funny.

If you’ve ever wondered about the life of substitute teachers, you must read this book. Remember when we were kids? I can think of a few times I wished a substitute teacher would stay and the other "evil-meanie-teacher" go away for good. Ms. Minick–we’d want you to stay…

I have another confession to make. I was mean to a few subs. Please accept my apologies…We had no idea what you went through…Now that we’re older and maybe even wiser, we feel really, really, really bad. It’s my karma to be an adjunct, I suppose…Let this be a warning to all kids who are mean to subs–and the administrators who take advantage of them…

And we will laugh at you again! Yes, big belly laughs. Oops–laugh with you, not at you.

That said, I’d like to share one of my favorite tales.

Tale 21: "An Urban Legend"

Ms. Minick is subbing for a high school class whose task it is to make Name Charts. The task is to take "each letter of their first name and matching it up with an adjective or noun", stressing their positive attributes.

After explaining the assignment, there is a flurry of activity, a veritable creative frenzy, as the students are "instantly sucked from their seats and magnetized to The Box!"

What’s in this box? Wonderful, messy stuff like colored numbers and paper and crayons and stencils and pictures of presidents and fruity markers!

The students relax into a creative flow, and Ms. Minick inquires as to where Mrs. Cosmos got all this stuff. The students tell her that Mrs. Cosmos used to be a preschool teacher.

I rest my case. Everything we need to make us happy, creative beings hails from preschool and kindergarten…Why, oh why can’t we just keep playing like this?!

It gets better…A student comes into the classroom on behalf of another teacher, Mr. Rose, and asks for magazines. Mrs. Cosmos’ classroom is filled with those, too. It seems that Mr. Rose’s class is "making a collage of all the good and bad things kids do".

Then the kids practice their "intercommunication skills" by playing UNO and other games.

Ms. Minick’s epiphany is priceless, complete with her powerful portrayal of a Queen in her own right.

"Suddenly, my stupor is vaporized by a flash of insight: this is not an ordinary, normal classroom. This is The Media Center of the Whole School, and Mrs. Cosmos is the Media Queen."

This, is what makes teaching–substitute or otherwise–worthwhile. Where else can you be at the center of a glowing, creative "cosmos"? As Minick says, "it just doesn’t get much better than this!"

Where’s volume two, Ms. Minick? Oh, and may I have the recipe for those horseradish deviled eggs–please!

Minick, Virginia L. Desperately Seeking Hunor: Incredible and Satirical Tales of a Substitute Teacher. San Jose: Writers Club Press, 2002.

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