Bernadette and the Lunch Bunch

January 1, 2009
First her best friend moves away and then the school system excludes third graders from the science-fair competition. For third grader and budding scientist Bernadette Inez O 'Brian Schwartz, this promises to be the worst school year ever. Bernadette is an original —imaginative, organized, moody, but resourceful. Slowly, she makes new friends, a Lunch Bunch with whom she can share strategies for making lunch at school interesting. She has a pirate party, comes to terms with being nothing more than one of the audience for the Talent Show, concocts a project that makes her sad friend Megan smile and circumvents the science-fair decision. Poet and literary critic Glickman 's first novel for children realistically captures elementary-school life with sympathy and humor. Allard 's occasional line drawings show a diverse cast of characters and add to the appeal of this substantial chapter book first published in Canada in 2008. (Fiction. 7-9)

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May 1, 2009
Gr 2-4-Bernadette Inez O'Brian Schwartz is about to start third grade, and without her best friend, who moved away, it's going to be "the worst year ever." This curious girl is an engaging and quirky character who loves to ask "Why?" and investigate the world around her through science. Bernadette is seeing a lot of changes in her life this year, in addition to the loss of Jasmine, and she doesn't like it. One of the big changes is that she has to eat lunch at school every day. This is a most terrifying prospect without a best friend, but after a few weeks she becomes friends with Annie, Keisha, and Megan and they team up to form the "Lunch Bunch." Written with light humor throughout, the story unfolds nicely to share many of the challenges Bernadette faces, such as not having a talent to showcase in the talent show and not being able to enter the science fair. Bernadette is good at developing "strategies" to figure out how to deal with different situations, and, with the help of her friends, she always comes out on top. A few black-and-white illustrations are scattered throughout. This is a fun read with accessible language and appeal for early chapter-book readers."Bethany A. Lafferty, Henderson District Public Libraries, NV"

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