Lunch Money [Hardcover]

Andrew Clements (Author), Brian Selznick (Illustrator)

Book Description

Greg Kenton has always had a natural talent for making money -- despite the annoying rivalry of his neighbor Maura Shaw. Then, just before sixth grade, Greg makes a discovery: Almost every kid at school has an extra quarter or two to spend almost every day.

Multiply a few quarters by a few hundred kids, and for Greg, school suddenly looks like a giant piggy bank. All he needs is the right hammer to crack it open. Candy and gum? Little toys? Sure, kids would love to buy stuff like that at school. But would teachers and the principal permit it? Not likely.

But how about comic books? Comic books might work. Especially the chunky little ones that Greg writes and illustrates himself. Because everybody knows that school always encourages reading and writing and creativity and individual initiative, right?

In this funny and timely novel, Andrew Clements again holds up a mirror to real life, and invites young readers to think about money, school, friendship, and what it means to be a success.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6–Sixth-grader Greg Kenton has always had a talent for making money. His latest scheme, creating and selling miniature comic books, looks to be a success. However, problems arise when his classmate and longtime nemesis, Maura, competes with him by making her own mini-stories. Even worse, the principal, who believes that comic books are nasty and violent, bans their sale at school. Clements has created another clever, enterprising young protagonist in Greg, who, like Nick in Frindle (S & S, 1996), also finds inconsistencies in his school's regulations and works toward change. While his intentions at the beginning are purely entrepreneurial, his outlook on money transforms to the philanthropic as he fights for the right to sell his Chunky Comics to his fellow students. Also, his relationship with Maura takes a new turn as the two enemies pool their talents and find a way to get along. The characters are rich with interesting quirks and motivations, including Mr. Z, a blood-phobic math teacher. Along with providing a fast-paced and humorous story line, the author examines concepts of true wealth, teamwork, community mindedness, and the value of creative expression. Selznick's pencil sketches add comic touches throughout.–Carol L. MacKay, Camrose Public Library, Alberta, Canada
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"This hits the jackpot."

-- Kirkus Reviews

"The characters are rich with interesting quirks and motivations...fast-paced and humorous."

-- School Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers; 1St Edition edition (June 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689866836
• ISBN-13: 978-0689866838
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #984,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Most of my characters are fairly normal people who are dealing with the basics of everyday life--getting along with others, finding a place in the world, discovering talents, overcoming challenges, trying to have some wholesome fun along the way, and getting into some scrapes and a little mischief now and then, too. I guess I hope my readers will be able to see bits and pieces of themselves in the stories, particularly the novels that take place in and around school. School is a rich setting because schools and education are at the heart of every community. The stories that are set in school seem to resonate with kids, teachers, parents, librarians--readers of all ages. Everyone's life has been touched by school experiences. And I also hope, of course, that kids and others will enjoy reading, enjoy the use of language, enjoy my storytelling.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the Love of Something Other Than Money, September 15, 2005

By 

George Buttner "Agent0042" (Dayton, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lunch Money (Hardcover)

In each of his school stories, Andrew Clmeents manages to touch on many of the same issues, but always has something new to explore. This one is another in this great line.

"Lunch Money" focuses on Greg Kenton, a boy who is only in the sixth grade, but is already hard at work on planning a business empire. Although he enjoys many normal-kid activities, he's already working hard --- raking leaves, shoveling snow, doing extra chores for cash and various other activities. His first ever bank deposit was $3,200 and then he decided that school would be a great place to make money. His attempts at selling candy and toys were shut down by the principal, but he has a new idea that he's sure will work --- Chunky Comics --- miniature comic books, hand-drawn, mass-produced and sold for a quarter each. It's a great idea, but problems soon crop up:

- His long-time rival --- Maura Shaw --- steps in with a plan of her one
- The administration, of course, eventually catches wind of Greg's plan, once again throwing a wrench in the works.

So what follows is a tale of two rivals finding out things they never knew about each other and thoughtful questions about school policies, courage, hard work and what's truly important in life.

Like all Andrew Clements novels, this story is extremely well written and easy to follow. The characters are identifiable and believeable --- the other most major character in the story being the math teacher named Mr Zenotopoulous, known to most simply as Mr. Z. Mr. Z. fears the sight of blood and has a long history of avoiding conflict because of this, but he ends up finding himself more involved in the situation that develops with Greg, Maura and the comics than he ever would have thought possible. In this, Clements once again shows his knack for helping his readers to see things not just from the students' points-of-view, but from the teachers' as well.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars lunch money?! the best? chyea, January 24, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Lunch Money (Hardcover)

In Lunch Money, Greg Kenton, a normal 12 year old kid, is obsessed about money. He's always trying to earn money anyway he can, collecting bottles, extra chores, the works. He then thought of an idea, selling toys to his schoolmates, but the principle found out about it and banned him from selling them at school. Even though his idea for great money making was snatched away, he quickly regained his creativity. He thought of a genius idea to earn a load of more money. Little comic books, about the size of a credit card. The only bad thing about selling these mini comics, is it's giving Greg a lot of trouble. Maura, his neighbor, reproduced his idea into her own. A mini book, short stories about unicorns. Greg became furious against Maura thinking she was copying his idea. After many arguments and a fight that ended with a bloody nose and a teacher almost passing out, Greg and Maura made a deal to publish their own combination of a comic and story for the students at school. Later, the principal then again banned the comic books. Greg later noticed a flyer for a book fair. Comic books, were advertised in the flyer. Soon after finding this out, Greg and Maura sent a request to the school committee. Hoping to get permission to sell their books, realizing how unfair it was for the school to sell comics but Greg and Maura couldn't.

This story teaches you a great lesson about being selfish and learning how to share and respect others. It's one of your typical self changing books, but with a fun twist. Lunch Money is a page turning thriller and when you start to read it, you won't want to put it down.

-S.K. :]

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book, January 10, 2008

By 

Reading Teacher "Mr. W" (NEW YORK, NEW YORK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lunch Money (Paperback)

I'm a nine year old boy from NY. This book is funny and serious, too. This boy Greg wants to make lots of money while copycats try to steal his ideas. He makes money by selling little chunky comics. I recommend this book to everyone.

WB