Jarrett J. Krosoczka's Lunch Lady series of graphic novels for elementary school kids is very entertaining. The books include a crime-fighting school lunch lady and her gadget-inventing sidekick, Betty. Lunch Lady is assisted by the efforts of three friends known as The Breakfast Bunch.

The first book in the Lunch Lady series is Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute. This small-format graphic novel introduces the Lunch Lady who rides a motor scooter, wears a yellow apron and yellow rubber gloves, and has a gadget-filled hideout in the boiler room. In this book, a popular teacher is unexpectedly out sick, replaced by an enormous, oddly formal teacher. Suspiciously, he turns down fresh cookies! As Lunch Lady begins investigating the substitute, the Breakfast Bunch, decide to learn more about Lunch Lady. The Breakfast Bunch kids (Hector, Dee, and Terrence) have regular problems, mixed in with their dangerous cyborg encounter. Young readers will be able to relate to them.

Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown finds Lunch Lady, Betty, and the three Breakfast Bunch kids all attending the same two-week summer camp. This is a departure for the series (generally set in a school). Breakfast Bunch nemesis Milmoe and his minion are at the camp, too. Things get off to a scary start when one of the counselors is attacked by "the terrible swamp monster." Lunch Lady and the Breakfast Bunch independently take it upon themselves to investigate (and naturally save the day). It's a fun read. Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown received 2011's Children's Choice Award for Third to Fourth Grade Book of the Year.

In Lunch Lady and the Bake Sale Bandit, everyone is back at school and excited for a bake sale/fundraiser. Until… the baked goods are stolen. Lunch Lady and the Breakfast Bunch investigate a variety of leads before closing in on the culprit.

The Lunch Lady books are perfect for third or fourth graders, including reluctant/dormant readers. They are fun, action-packed, over-the-top fare, while staying true to the day-to-day issues of elementary school kids. Krosoczka's black, white, and yellow illustrations are boy and girl-friendly, and are excellent for relatively new readers.