Lunch Lady

Bibliography:

Krosoczka, Jarrett. Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.  ISBN:  9780329714543

Plot Summary:

     This graphic novel written by Jarreett Krosoczka is one that will keep students guessing when it comes to unfolding the evil plan of the local librarians.  The children in the story are really looking forward to the unveiling of X-Station 5000.  The librarians have other plans when it comes to the X-Station 5000.  This novel is a laugh out loud read and the super heroes arrive in the most unlikely form with the most unlikely of gadgets to assist them in their efforts to uncover the librarians' plans for world domination.  

Critical Analysis:
     In the graphic novel Lunch Ladies and the League of Librarians, Krosoczka does a wonderful job of hooking the readers from the very beginning of the story.  League of Librarians is the second book in the Lunch Lady series.  The storyline gravitates around three students, the Breakfast Bunch, that are discovering some curious things going on in the library with the librarians. Their school book fair is about to start and the students are excited about the "Read-a-thon" competition that is soon to be starting. 
   Little do the students know that the Lunch Ladies have been watching the librarians very closely as well and they are very close to figuring out their plans.  The Breakfast Bunch is parallel to a sidekick role while the lunch ladies follow the stereotypical role of super heroes.  They are everyday people in an everyday familiar work environment that when their skills are needed to fight evil, they come to the rescue.  The book follows a traditional sequence of events with super heroes stories.  The super heroes and their sidekicks become aware of some evil plans put together by the villainous librarians and work together to make sure their plan does not succeed.  
    The illustrations for League of Librarians are in black and white with accents of yellow.  Yellow is present in each picture it is important for the author to point out a detail of that particular scene and different shades of yellow is sometimes used as background color. When the Breakfast Bunch goes back to the library to find the keys one of them dropped, the scene is done in black and white and the missing keys are yellow on the floor of the library.  When one of the librarians yelled at the kids telling them, "The library is CLOSED!" the students were accented in yellow, but the librarian took-up almost the whole page and had bright yellow sunbursts shooting out from behind her.  It showed the reader that the librarian was mean and the children were cowering below her and afraid of her because they appear small in this scene and fear is expressed on their faces.  Using just black, white and yellow in Krosoczka's Lunch Lady series provides the reader with an opportunity to see what the author wants the reader to notice in each scene of this graphic novel.  It is well thought out and is a book that all students will enjoy. 

Review Excerpt:

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5–When not serving up French fries and gravy to students, Lunch Lady escapes to her secret kitchen lair to lead the life of a crime fighter. Using an assortment of lunch-themed gadgets (created by her sidekick Betty), she is definitely a quirky superhero. Tipped off by the Breakfast Bunch (three students who discovered Lunch Lady's crime-fighting alter ego in Book 1), she attempts to foil the plans of the evil League of Librarians, who seek to destroy all video games. The black-and-white pen-and-ink illustrations have splashes of yellow in nearly every panel. The clean layout, featuring lots of open space, is well suited for the intended audience. Terrence, Hector, and Dee become more developed in this second installment in the series, especially Dee, who asserts herself as the strong-willed leader of the group. The winking references to book fairs, read-a-thon enrollment, and media specialists fit well with the story line. With its appealing mix of action and humor, this clever, entertaining addition to the series should have wide appeal.–Travis Jonker, Dorr Elementary School, MI END

Awards:

Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices - 2010

Connections:

Lesson idea:  This book would be great to use as an introduction into reading graphic novels.  Teachers and librarians can use the book as a read aloud and take the students panel by panel through the book.  This book also offers teachers and librarians an opportunity to show how authors connect with other books.  League of Librarians has a connection to some characters from classic literature that all students should be familiar with.  Students could write their own stories using characters from stories they are familiar with or are their favorite stories.
Author's Website:  CLICK HERE 
Author's Blog:  CLICK HERE
Lunch Lady Series Website:  CLICK HERE


Other books by Jarrett Krosoczka 

ISBN:  978-0375870354

ISBN:  978-0375860959