Literary Circle #2: lunch lady and the cyborg substitute

Literary Circle #2

 Krosoczka, J. (2009). Lunch lady and the cyborg substitute. Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Questions/Answers:

“Right there” questions:

1.  Where is the lunch lady’s secret lair located?  below the school through a secret door way

2.  What book genre does The lunch lady belong to?   graphic novel

“Think and search” questions:

1.       What kinds of inventions does Betty, the lunch lady’s sidekick, create?  A spatula that acts as a helicopter, lunch tray that is actually a laptop, etc.

2.  How is perspective used to give emphasis to certain parts of the story?    Some of the drawings are from up above, looking down on the subject, such as the panel that shows Mr. McConnell saying “Glorious!”  Other panels are shown from below, looking up at the subjects.

Interpretive questions:

1.       How does the lunch lady’s assistant help her? She comes up with inventions to help the lunch lady with her adventures.  The inventions are meant to assist the lunch lady with her quests.  She also keeps the lunch lady’s secret life as a crime fighter/detective a secret.

2.       Why does the lunch lady seem suspicious of the substitute when he says that he’s filling in for Mr. McConnell?  Mr. McConnell hasn’t missed a day of school in 20 years, so something seems odd about him not being at the school.

Critical evaluative questions:

1.  What does the limited color palette tell the reader about the book?  The use of black and white gives a neutral background for the yellow to stand out.  Yellow seems to be used to emphasis certain aspects of the story.

2.    How does Hector, a member of the Breakfast Bunch, end up handling the bully?  Instead of avoiding the bully or ignoring him, Hector looks him in the eye and said a confident “No!” when asked for his lunch money.  The bully leaves him alone after that encounter.