Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute

July 13, 2009
In this campy graphic novel series debut, Krosoczka (Punk Farm
) introduces Lunch Lady, a scrappy, permed crime fighter with rolled-up sleeves, yellow dishwashing gloves and an apron. Down in the school's boiler room, she and her older sidekick, Betty, test gadgets (like a handheld spatula-helicopter and a banana boomerang) and keep an eye on things. Three children—Hector, Dee and Terrence—speculate about Lunch Lady's after-school life and follow her when she jumps on her moped, in hot pursuit of a suspicious substitute teacher. Krosoczka's plot is somewhat thin: the title and cover illustration announce the trouble with the sub; the only mysteries are the mastermind and motive behind the sub's deployment. Yet Krosoczka crafts Lunch Lady as a tough, capable heroine who deploys such exclamations as “Nutritious!” and bon mots like “Should I serve up some whaaamburgers and cries?” when on a robot-destroying tear. With plenty of silliness and slapstick in the text and panel art alike, this comic should alleviate lunch-line boredom with visions of servers wielding fishstick-nunchucks and growling, “Today's special is a knuckle sandwich.” Also available: Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians
. Ages 7–10.

March 1, 2009
Grades 2-4 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 makers 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 Ladys epithets of Cauliflower! and Bettys 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2010
Three friends (a.k.a. "the Breakfast Bunch") wonder what the lunch lady does when she's not cooking. Little do they know she's a superhero in disguise, complete with flying Spatu-copter and lunch tray laptop. This tongue-in-cheek graphic novel series, illustrated in bold black-and-white with vibrant highlighter-yellow accents, is a strong choice for superhero-spoof fans.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)