Bruno and Boots

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Bruno and Boots is the name of a series of young adult novels by author Gordon Korman; they are arguably his most famous works.

The series is set in a Canadian boarding school for boys called Macdonald Hall (named after John A. Macdonald, the first Prime Minister of Canada), located near the city of Toronto.

The lead characters are Bruno Walton and Melvin "Boots" O'Neal, MacDonald Hall students who have a well earned reputation for mischief. For all their troublemaking, however, the pair have a deep loyalty to the school and many of the books have them and their friends going to great lengths to support it. It is unknown how old they are, but it is safe to assume they are around 13 or 14.

The school's headmaster is William R. Sturgeon, also known as "The Fish" by the students. This unwanted nickname comes not only from his name, but also from his bespectacled fish-like appearance when he glares disapprovingly at his students. While he is a firm disciplinarian with a carefully cultivated authoritative image, he also cares deeply for his school and the children under his care. His wife cares just as much for the students, and whenever Bruno and Boots come by, she offers them cookies and milk. She isn't as strict as her husband.

Across the street is another school, Miss Scrimmage's Finishing School for Young Ladies. However, despite the obtuse headmistress's best efforts, the girls there are even more rambunctious than the boys of Macdonald Hall, and are always ready for whatever fun that Bruno and Boots have in mind. Miss Scrimmage happens to own a shotgun which she uses to threaten anyone who disturbs the peace or comes by her school.

At times, the two schools have joined forces, such as in The War with Mr. Wizzle, wherein Mr. Sturgeon gains a new assistant principal, Mr. Wizzle, who is a firm believer in categorizing and "computerizing" McDonald Hall. Meanwhile, Miss Scrimmage hires a former drill instructor as her assistant; afterward, the two student bodies team up to send the new staff "as far as they can afford to send them" before the schoolboard decides that keeping them at the school is a good idea.

[edit] Bruno and Boots/Macdonald Hall Books

This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall (1978, recently renamed This Can't Be Happening)
Go Jump in the Pool (1979)
Beware the Fish (1980)
The War With Mr. Wizzle (1982, recently retitled The Wizzle War)
The Zucchini Warriors (1988)
Macdonald Hall Goes Hollywood (1991, recently renamed Lights, Camera, Disaster!)
Something Fishy At Macdonald Hall (1995, recently renamed The Joke's On Us)