Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute

I liked this book because it instills in readers a sense of imagination. Even though it is for a more advanced primary level, the plot includes a fictional story about something that broadens the reader’s scope of plot lines and brings them into a fun, engaging fantasy world where school meets superheroes. The story is about a lunch lady who fights crime and an evil “cyborg” substitute. This is very relatable to students, seeing as the setting is in a school, and allows them to easily picture themselves as one of the main characters. The illustrations are extremely engaging as it is set up in a comic strip style. Each page includes either small bits of scenes or an entire two-page spread of dramatic action. Either way, the imagery show more allows for readers to feel like they are part of an action-packed story fighting along side the main characters. Additionally, not a lot of academic language is used, making this book reader friendly for more students. It is seen more as a fun way to read than most, which could invite students in who are not as apt at reading. The central message of the story is that good always prevails over evil. show less

There's evil afoot, and Lunch Lady is there with her trusty hair-netted sidekick Betty to thwart it. Whether its a league of librarians who plan to intercept all the new video game consoles coming in fresh off he boat, or the mild-mannered teacher who created a robot army to replace the other teachers so he can become Teacher of the Year, Lunch Lady and her never-ending arsenal of modified food service devices will be there to save the day.

These graphic novels aimed at the emerging reader has just enough story to keep them moving along and plenty of action to retain the attention of the fussiest readers, but little else. They have a look and feel reminiscent of the the Babymouse series, though they lack that series more rounded show more characters. The trio of kids - the Breakfast Bunch - are convenient shells for explaining story elements and become useful only when they fall into danger. Lunch Lady (and Betty) should be the focus and we should know more about what makes them tick.

Similarly, this series also makes a play for the Captain Underpants crowd with the wackiness of superheros but are neither as clever in their humor or as gross as they could be. We are talking about cafeteria food here, a prime area for exploration, and it feels little like an opportunity lost that crime if fought only with the utensils. Also, superheroes have backstories that explain and infuse character. Captain Underpants himself is funny because of how he becomes who he is, but with Lunch Lady the reader is supposed to accept her antics simply by virtue of lunch ladies being somewhat off.

I appreciate the idea of producing more long-form comics for this age group but I feel that with kids a certain standard has to be met. I'm not suggesting that the stories can't be fun and frivolous, but that they be delivered with the same expectations that would fall to a work of fiction aimed at the same level. What makes Captain Underpants work with readers isn't that it has underpants in the title, it's that the characters are distinctly drawn, the text is clever and funny, and the story would be almost as funny without illustrations. There's a whole load of possibility in the concept of a superhero Lunch Lady but it's all lost on just-in-time gadgets and one-dimensional characters.

I found that the moment I closed the book I had forgotten most of its story. The same thing happened on rereading them. There is so little to latch onto that they are as immediately forgotten as the empty calories of a celery stalk.

To steal from Douglas Adams: relatively harmless. show less

I read this on the heels of the "Daniel Boom" graphic novel. More crime-fighting hi-jinx! Hector, Terrence and Dee wonder about the private life of their lunch lady, unaware that she's got a superhero lair hidden in the school cafeteria. The lunch lady has her suspicions about the new substitute and she and her lunchroom colleague track down his movements to see what he's really up to. The clever cliffhanger ending ensures MORE HI-JINX!!!

This book is a fun graphic novel, that takes place in a school focusing on the lunch lady who has gadgets and an assistant that helps keep the school safe, she is a superhero. One day a new substitute comes to take over a class and something is off about him. The lunch lady suspects that the substitute is up to no good so she follows him home and sees that he is actually a cyborg. She then makes it her mission to defeat the evil cyborg and save the day. She is serving justice and serving lunch.

Hector, Dee, and Torrence are members of the Breakfast Bunch and have been wondering what kind of boring life the lunch lady lives. Meanwhile, the lunch lady has a weird feeling about the new substitute teacher who is replacing a teacher who is never absent. The Breakfast Bunch decides to follow the lunch lady after school to figure out what she really does. They discover that the lunch lady is really an undercover crime fighter who has discovered Mr. Edison’s plot to replace the popular teachers of the school with mean cyborgs to win teacher of the year for himself. It turns out that the new substitute is one of many cyborgs. Good wins in the end and Mr. Edison goes to jail.

I thought that this graphic novel was really cute. The show more drawings were lively and the artist used lots of sound descriptions and left notes to describe objects in the pictures. There were lots of little jokes that kids would enjoy. It also used little puns in the form of food-based crime fighting gadgets. I also liked how learning that the lunch lady fought crime gave Hector the courage to stand up to his bully.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. Have the class make up their own crime fighting gadgets based on food or cooking utensils like in the book. They can draw or paint them.
2. Have the class make their own lunch lady graphic novel or comic. They can form small groups and decide as a team how to write the story, draw the pictures, and put the book together. The books can be read one by one to the class and then kept in the book area for later enjoyment. show less

Hector, Terrence and Dee start to become suspicious of their lunch lady, who turns out to be a super hero! She uses her super hero utensils and kitchen layer to bust the secret plan stirring in the school to replace all the popular teachers with robots! This book is full of adventure and humor and would be perfect for 3rd grade as it would engage them in their reading! This can also be used to show the importance of illustrations and they can bring your stories to life. This would be a great way to incorporate art and creativity into their own writing by creating a illustrated personal book!

June 2012 Cover to Cover selection (3rd-5th book club).

I picked this for book club before I read it (our summer reading them is Reading is So Delicious!) and after I read it, I was really worried that we wouldn't have anything to talk about. Turns out that was not the case and both groups had great discussions. Part of that may have been that because there wasn't a whole lot to talk about from the book, the questions focused more on things like what kind of gadgets the kids would have if they were secret spies. We'll see how next month goes when we actually have more book-centered, thought provoking questions. This was super easy for most of my going-into-5th graders, but just about right for most of my just-starting-3rd graders.

The show more book itself was fine for what it is - an amusing spy romp with lots of fun and punny gadgets. The panels are nicely varied and effective. The use of the yellow color to contrast with the black, white and grays is also well done. This is a great read-alike for kids who like the Babymouse and Squish, Super Amoeba books and also good for those who might not be quite old enough for Diary of a Wimpy Kid. show less