Well, Rotten School is just zany; it’s just crazy. You just try to come up with really funny characters and put them in horrible situations and see what happens. I have this kid Bernie Bridges, who’s this conman who’s always out to win; and he has an arch–enemy in the school – this spoiled, rich kid, Sherman Oaks. Bernie and his buddies live in a dorm called Rotten House, and they pick the third floor because it’s good for dropping things out of the window on people.
Sherman lives across the lawn on this campus in Nice House. I don’t know who would want to live in Nice House. But Sherman Oaks and his pals live in Nice House, so it’s a constant battle between the two groups. Sherman is always showing off his new things. In one of the early books, Sherman’s parents have bought him a new digital watch that has 42 different functions. It has a keyboard on it and a CD player and a movie thing, and it’s got a small George Foreman grill – all on his watch.
Bernie sees this watch, and says, “Oh! I have to have it. I have to have that watch.” And the book is about how Bernie goes about taking that watch away from Sherman Oaks.