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Lunch Money
By Matt Berman,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Delightful page-turner with rock-solid values.
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What you will—and won't—find in this book.
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Based on 2 parent reviews
A very well done book :)!
Great book for families to read together
What's the Story?
Greg has always loved money, and he's good at getting lots of it. Since he was very small he has done chores and odd jobs, first at home, then around the neighborhood. Now in sixth grade he has realized that he has been sitting on a gold mine all along -- school. School is the place where kids with money gather every day, and Greg intends to get a good-size piece of the action. At first he tries selling candy and toys, but the school soon puts a stop to that, and he can understand why. But when he starts writing, illustrating, and printing his own comic books and selling them, the principal puts a stop to that too, and that seems less fair. Equally unfair is that his lifelong enemy, Maura, has once again copied his idea. But perhaps it takes a pair of enemies to challenge the system.
Is It Any Good?
LUNCH MONEY is as remarkable for what it doesn't have as for what it does -- suspense without villains, humor without pandering, excitement without violence. Not to mention independent children without killing off the adults or making them all morons. Nobody else seems to be able to do what Andrew Clements does: He takes the environment that is most familiar and meaningful to children, school, and writes stories that take place there in language so clear and lively that even inexperienced and reluctant readers can blaze through it in a haze of pleasure. And his stories are so packed with intellectual depth, emotional power, and understanding of the human heart that each of his books rockets to the top of read-aloud and discussion group lists.
The story has a rich and developing relationship between Greg and Maura and a complex view of money and school politics. It's a pure, unadulterated delight.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the more-complex-than-usual look at the acquisition of money, relationships, and school politics.
Book Details
- Author: Andrew Clements
- Illustrator: Brian Selznick
- Genre: School
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster
- Publication date: July 4, 2005
- Number of pages: 222
- Last updated: June 11, 2015
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