Unlikely Hero

The new Lunch Lady graphic novel arrived at school last Thursday.  Isaac was there to see the new arrivals when I opened the box and claimed first read as soon as he saw it.  I don't think he had read any of the other books in the series -- we don't have all of them in the library, just a couple that I have been able to acquire the past couple of years.  But he knows that it is a graphic novel series and was interested in reading it.

I did make him wait until I had cataloged it before he could bring the new book home.  Since I knew he would ask about it the next day, my promise motivated me to catch up on some processing tasks I needed to get done.

So, Friday afternoon I checked out to Isaac the newly barcoded  Lunch Lady and the Schoolwide Scuffle.  I also brought home my personal copy of Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians for him.

He started League of Librarians on the drive home that afternoon and sat in the car when we arrived to finish it.  He read Schoolwide Scuffle Saturday after coming home from a morning of fishing with Matt and a friend.  The weather was beautiful so he sat on the porch to read. 

Lunch Lady is the creation of Jarrett Krosoczka.  He has written picture and chapter books in addition to his graphic novels.  When you think of school personnel as likely heroes, the lunch ladies probably aren't the ones that come first to mind.  But the Lunch Lady heroine and her assistants have adventures most women in the serving line wouldn't dream of having, and most kids who go through the line would never imagine them having.  

There are some fun videos and activities on both Krosoczka's website and the Random House website.  There is now even a School Lunch Hero Day site to promote a special day set aside to honor School Nutrition Professionals the first Friday in May.  I think I know what my library helpers will be working on once National Poetry Month is over.

I think we will be searching Ed McKay for other Lunch Lady books.  I will even overlook the fact that the school librarian was the bad guy in #2.