Lunch Walks Among Us (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist)

The humor is delightful, it has a great message about being yourself, and the 3rd grade class I read some of this book to absolutely loved it.

I know this is an older series, but it still circulates vigorously. I decided to throw it in as a choice for my book club readers but then realized I had never actually read any of the titles...

Franny is a little...different. She likes to dress in lab coats, has a room full of bats, and is fond of....experimenting. Her parents have tried to make her more ordinary, but with no success. When she moves to a new town, she is upset that the kids are scared of her and she has no friends, so she starts a science experiment to fit in and be normal. It works - a little too well! Now her family is worried about her, she has friends but does she really want them? And when the lunch goes critical who will save the day?

Benton's funny illustrations show more show a menacing little girl, wacky monsters, and ridiculously "normal" classroom. This is a funny story that will make kids snort with laughter - and possibly thing a little about fitting in and being yourself.

Verdict: If I didn't already have this series in the library I wouldn't start from scratch, but I will definitely keep replacing it as needed since it continues to be popular. It's also a higher lexile level, which is useful.

ISBN: 9780689862953; Published 2004 by Simon & Schuster; Purchased for the library (replaced several times) show less

Franny K. Stein is the new kid on the block and as a ‘mad scientist’ has a hard time fitting in at her new school. Making friends is hard for Franny as she prefers snakes, monsters and bats to dolls. She owns a doll, but she reassembles it to have the ability to chomp off other dolls heads, calling it Chompolina. While most of her classmates eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, she prefers crab ravioli in pumpkin sauce. When she tries to fit in and throws out her lunch in favor of a sandwich, another kid throws industrial waste in the trash and her lunch comes to life as the pumpkin-crab monster. Lunch Walks Among Us is a silly book, but provides a nice transition to lower elementary school readers from a picture book show more to a chapter book. The chapters are short, the text is kept to a minimum while the black and white illustrations fill the pages as they enhance the story by helping young readers visualize Franny and her mad scientist ways. Readers are encouraged to cut along the dotted line of several pages to “watch Franny transform from sweet little girl to mad scientist”. show less

OMG this one was so much fun! I did the audio book in the car with my 9 year old. Luckily, she had the book memorized so she was able to pause the story and tell me, in detail, each image from the book - which only added to the wonderful story. If you've never had a 9 year old tell you more about a story, I recommend it!

but for this one, you might want to have the paper or ebook, so you get the pictures :)

This funny transitional chapter book would be a great choice for fans of Captain Underpants (especially remember this series for kids whose parents forbid Capt. U). It has the same sense of humor that Capt. U has, but toned down a bit. This is also a great choice for kids who don't like sci-fi but are required to read a sci-fi book. It's light sci-fi and mostly a story about a girl who's a little different (okay, a lot different) from the other kids in her class.

Franny K Stein is starting a new school and she is a little nervous. She lives in a pretty house with flowers in the window, but she is NOT an ordinary girl. She is, in fact, a mad scientist, one that invents Frankenstein-like dolls. As typical of a child that age, Franny decides she wants to fit in with all the other girls so she leaves her mad scientist ways at home and forces herself to belong. However, when a monster made out of leftover lunch meat takes over the school, only the old Franny can save everyone. Will she give up her newfound popularity to be a hero? Of course she will!

This is a great book that is not only funny (in a Captain Underpants-y kind of way) but also one with a strong, smart feminine hero, a girl more show more interested in brains than in being popular. show less

Love that it’s a girl. At first took some time to warm to the character (does she have Asperberger’s?) but overall nice message – you want friends who like you for who you are, not who you pretend to be. But don’t knock something until you try it – you might like some aspect of it. (And finale reminded me of Buffy’s senior prom).