Homework. I have it every weeknight except Friday. I know it's supposed to be good for me. But sometimes I wish I could just be at home having fun with Little Genie instead of doing math. Because … how many other people do you know who have their very own genie? Instead, I'm stuck going over fractions.

If I had genie powers, I'd use my magic to make teachers do homework that kids got to assign! Or maybe I'd cast a spell that made little brothers have to do their big sisters' homework.

Hee hee! Jake would love that. (But he'd probably make lots of mistakes. So maybe that wouldn't be so good after all.)

Genie's really lucky that she doesn't have homework. She doesn't even have to go to school. Genie doesn't like to talk about it, but she was expelled from Genie School w-a-a-y back in the 1960s (that's why she uses funny words like groovy and cool cat sometimes).

Genie kept getting her spells wrong. When the Grand Genie visited her school, Genie did a spell to clean up the classrooms. She got all the brooms and mops and feather dusters working on their own, but then she couldn't stop them! The floors were all slippery with soap, and the Grand Genie fell!

After that, Genie's teacher sent her off to live in her Lava lamp. Luckily for Genie, in Genieland, time is different than it is here in Florida. Forty years isn't even that long there!

One day she'll be allowed back to Genie School. Until then, she's supposed to spend her time studying magic. But even after all her studying, when Genie grants me three new wishes, absolutely anything can happen!

Genie says she missed out on all sorts of fun when she had to leave school, and now she's really strict about making sure I keep up with my classes and get good grades. So I should stop writing in my diary and get back to my homework. …