Module 15: Lunch Money

Lunch Money

written by Andrew Clements

illustrated by Brian Selznick

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2005

ISBN: 0689866836

Price: $15.95

Greg Kenton certainly has the ability to "turn over a buck." Lunch Money by Andrew Clements tells the story of a young entrepreneur who works hard, makes plans to make money, and has to solve the problem of product competition from his neighbor Maura Shaw who designs and sells her version of a mini comic book. One of my favorite descriptions of the characters in the story is the description of Mr. Z the math teacher. When Greg describes how much his favorite teacher Mr. Z loved math he states, "He lived math. His wife taught geometry at the high school, so you could even say that he had married math." Clements mixes humor with this money making adventure of two young people who finally decide to work together and share some of their profits with their school library. Use Lunch Money by Andrew Clements when teaching an economics unit in social studies!

Reviews:

Kirkus Reviews: "Clements weaves intriguing information about comic book illustration into this entertaining, smoothly written story. Selznick's accompanying black-and-white drawings have the appearance of sketches Greg might have made himself."

MacKay, Carolyn L. "Lunch Money." Kirkus Reviews 73, no. 12 (2005) http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2052/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=17513539&site=ehost-live.

School Library Journal: Carol MacKay writes, "The characters are rich with interesting quirks and motivations, including M. Z, a blood-phobic math teacher."

MacKay, Carolyn L. "Lunch Money." School Library Journal 51, no. 8 (2005) http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2052/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=17853792&site=ehost-live.