Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute: Lunch Lady #1
Author: Jarrett J. Krosoczka
ISBN: 978-0375846830
Publisher: Knopf Books for
Young Readers, 2009
Grade Level 7-10 years
Genre/Theme/Style: Graphic Novel.
Good vs. evil, superheroes, and secrete crimefighters.
The style of this graphic novel series is based on undercover,
superheroes that fight crime with lots of humor.
Main Characters: The Lunch Lady and Betty, her assistant. The
Breakfast Bunch - Hector, Dee, and Terrence.
Setting: The school where the Lunch Lady works.
Plot: The school lunch lady is a secret crime fighter. Along
with Betty her gadget crafting side kick, the lunch lady uncovers an evil plot by
the suspicious, substitute teacher to replace all the teachers with robots.
While
the lunch lady is spying on the substitute teacher, Hector, Dee, and Terrence
are spying on her. The lunch lady discovers that the substitute teacher is
really a cyborg and they must stop his evil plan.
4 Roars! 🦁🦁🦁🦁
Critical Analysis: This is a humorous, slapstick Graphic novel
that centers on a lunch lady and her sidekick Betty that solve crime and injustice
along with serving up, “whaaamburgers and cries.”
The humor comes in the form
of finding ways of making the ordinary cafeteria and the ordinary lunch lady into
something anything but ordinary. Fun examples of this are the secret lunch
tray laptop, and chicken nugget bombs. It is part of a series, so kids that enjoy this type of humor can enjoy more Lunch Lady adventures.
“This tongue-in-cheek superheroine graphic novel will hit
the spot for chapter-book readers. Lunch Lady and Betty, her assistant in both
the cafeteria and her role of wrong-righting supersleuth, investigate the
strange case of an absent teacher, his creepy substitute, and a plan to grab
the Teacher of the Year Award by truly foul means. Three little kids join in
the action as Lunch Lady, equipped with a variety of high-tech kitchen gadgets
like a spatu-copter and a lunch-tray laptop, tracks a cleverly disguised robot
to his maker’s lab, where a whole army of cyborgs require kicking, stomping,
and the wielding of fish-stick nunchucks. Yellow-highlighted pen-and-ink
cartoons are as energetic and smile-provoking as Lunch Lady’s epithets of
“Cauliflower!” and Betty’s ultimate weapon, the hairnet. There is a nice twist
in the surprise ending, and the kids’ ability to stand up to the school bully
shows off their newfound confidence in a credible manner. Little details invite
and reward repeat readings with visual as well as verbal punning.” ~~Francisca
Goldsmith, Booklist
Why 4 Roars? The humor was cute, but the plot left something
to be desired. I think it might hold a younger reader’s attention longer than
an older reader. It is a charming idea, but the actual storyline was lacking for me.
It was a short read, but with a lot of action and adventure.
Illustrations: I liked the simple yellow, gray, and black,
illustrations by Krosoczka. They would be great for younger readers, and they have a
light playful side to them.
Awards: Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices & IRA Children’s Choices
Connections:
No comments:
Post a Comment