Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute Review By: Ayisha Hernandez

Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute (Graphic Novel)

Kroscoczka, Jarrett. (2009). Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute. New York, New York:  Scholastic, Inc.

Math teacher, Mr. O’Connell, is out sick and the Lunch Lady is suspicious of his substitute, Mr. Pasteur. They mention that Mr. O’Connell has not been sick in twenty years. She and her sidekick Betty, immediately set out to spy on this substitute teacher. The students already do not like the substitute teacher because he is giving them loads of work. The Lunch Lady has Betty distract Mr. Pasteur in the Teacher’s Lounge while she searches the classroom. The Lunch Lady finds a CD that had blueprints for robots. After school the Lunch Lady follows Mr. Pasteur, only to find out he is a robot! The real twist is who was behind the evil plan all along!

Reluctant readers? This may be the solution to your problems! This book is written in graphic novel form. It is similar to a comic book, with illustrations and less words. These types of books may be less intimidating to students who are unsure about his/her reading abilities. Kroscoczka does a great job with bringing in action, adventure, mystery, and heroism into the story. The students in the story are relatable and with a Lunch Lady with weapons such as rubber glove suction cups, a spork microphone and chicken nugget bombs, children are definitely going to be engaged in this story. The story has a good mystery aspect to it and provides many clues in the illustrations to help students make inferences about what is happening or what may happen in the story. I would recommend this story for students in late First Grade up to about Fourth Grade, This graphic novel may also be beneficial for struggling and reluctant readers up to Sixth Grade since the content and situations are still relevant to them.