Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute

5 Responses to “Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute”

1. Anonymous says:

   October 21, 2010 at 2:33 am

   When I first saw this book I was just like this seems like this is going to be a excellent book. I wanted to know what a lunch lady needs to do about fighting terrible people. So I added to my wish list all the series from Amazon. So when I was at the book store and I saw all the series. My mom said I could only pick one so I grabbed the cyborg substitute teacher book. When I was up in the morning and I ongoing reading the book I ongoing laughing because the two lunch ladies were using a bunch of food words and no additional leader thinks that way and I was thinking this leader is excellent and I thought the book was so amusing!!! And that’s why I really liked the book.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
2. C. Opalacz says:

   October 21, 2010 at 5:01 am

   My 8 year ancient son HATES to read. I have tried all kinds of books and authors. At wits end I saw that one of his favorite authors when he was in preschool, had come out with a graphic novel in his age range and I was hopful. He LOVED it. He did not want me to stop reading and when the first one was done, we ran out and bought the second one. My son loved the lunchlady thought and was hysterical over her gadgets. It is a excellent clean and fun graphic novel lacking the “graphic”. Perfect for even my 6 year ancient to read. I am so pleased to have finally establish something my 3rd grader enjoys. Hope Krosoczka keeps the series going!
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
3. Jaylia3 says:

   October 21, 2010 at 6:03 am

   As a reading tutor I am permanently looking for high interest books for my dyslexic students. This book is perfect–it’s amusing and has a lot of lively pictures of the cafeteria Lunch Lady saving the day, plus the words used are a excellent mix of mainly simple and with some challenging ones thrown in too. I have a very smart eleven year ancient student who can only read at the first or early second grade level and he likes this book. It takes him a long time, but not only can he read nearly all of it himself, I have to take the book out of his hands at the end of our session because he is completely engrossed.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
4. Tim Lasiuta says:

   October 21, 2010 at 8:49 am

   Go over Batman. Go over Phantom. This hero lives a small closer to our kids’ reality. Enter, the Lunch Lady, cook to the hungry, nutritional guardian for the addicted, and protector of Thompson Brook School!

   What do you do when a substitute seems out of the ordinary, seems too keen,and too perfect? Homework from a sub alerts the kids to a situation gone incorrect, and once Lunch Lady monitors everyone else, a disturbing pattern arises! Is Teacher of the Year worth that much? How does he get the $ on a teachers salary to erect so many robots?

   Jarrett J Krosoczka has made a marvelous book that breaks the convention that the cafeteria cook is ancient and crotchety. He packs this hero with a boiler room, kitchen weapons, and an assistant with an imagination that Mr Popeil never had.

   I loved this book and highly recommend it to all ages.

   Tim Lasiuta
   
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
5. K. Coombs says:

   October 21, 2010 at 11:42 am

   Obviously, the very best thing about this series is that Krosoczka chose a lunch lady for his undercover superhero. That made me laugh even before I learned related details such as weaponry. In a brief scene before the title page (comparable to the scene before the opening credits roll in a movie), we see two bank robbers being stopped by a heroic figure on a motorcycle that has a sloppy joe button. Yep, it’s hard to get away when your van is sliding around on a wave of sloppy joe filling.

   The child characters in the book are a trio of average kids: Hector, Terrence, and Dee. When they are bothered by the school tough, Milmoe, a new substitute teacher saves the day–but there’s something very weird about the sub, and soon Lunch Lady is trying to figure out just what he’s up to. She is helped by another lunch lady named Betty, who is like James Bond’s gadget guy, Q.

   The kitchen humor continues with a hidden lab behind a fridge and gadgets made out of things like spatulas, not to mention weapons formed from fish sticks. One of my favorite pages is a view of the spy screens in Lunch Lady’s lab, which show what the teachers are doing. For instance, we learn that “Mr. Johnson is reciting poetry” to his class. Of course, the poem he is reciting starts, “Beans, beans, excellent for your heart…” before trailing off to be concluded by amused readers.

   Considering the title, you will not be shocked to learn that the substitute turns out to be a robot. What’s fun to follow is how Lunch Lady facts this out and what she does about it. Meanwhile, our intrepid trio of kids have begun to spy on her. This, of course, allows them to participate in the obligatory climactic fight scene.

   Lunch Lady herself is a delightful creation. Her cuss words in tense moments are vegetables: “Sweet potato!” and “Cauliflower!” When she tails the villain, she says, “I’m on him like cheese on macaroni!” L.L. is courageous and knows some fantastic fight moves, but she is also dedicated to providing school meals–a satisfyingly surreal combination.

   Like the Babymouse books, Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute has an inherent sweetness. The humor is goofy and lovable, the trio of children are ordinary enough to represent Everyreader, and the fight scenes are tongue in cheek. I’m very pleased to see another graphic novel series served up in the children’s book cafeteria. There’s no mystery meat here: second and third graders are going to eat these up!
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5