CASTELLUCCI, Cecil. Odd Duck. illus. by Sara Varon. First Second. 2013. ISBN 9781596435575. JLG Level: GE : Graphic Novels Elementary (Grades 2–6).

Theodora was content with her life and an interruption like her messy new neighbor could mean nothing but trouble. Chad is, after all, quite different. He is a crazy dancer who splashes when he swims. She keeps a teacup on her head during swimming to practice her posture. He hammers away at his yard art projects, while she quietly sips her tea. An injured wing keeps Chad from flying south for the winter, and Theodora prefers the quiet, so she never flies. Thrown together, the two neighbors become friends until they learn that one of them is an odd duck. Which one is it? Should it make a difference in a friendship? Readers will embrace these new characters embellished with Varon’s charming illustrations―no matter what their quirk.

COUDRAY, Philippe. Bright Ideas! Candlewick/Toon Bks. 2013. ISBN 9781935179221. JLG Level: GE : Graphic Novels Elementary (Grades 2–6).

Benjamin Bear returns with his rabbit friend in one-page comic adventures about their world. Rabbit needs to cross the river, so Benjamin builds him a bridge. Instead of using the new structure, he jumps over the bridge and the river. In “Sharing,” rabbit and porcupine argue over the ownership of a ball. When it hits Benjamin in the nose during his nap, they generously give the ball away rather than own the ball that hit an angry bear. Humor fills every page of this easy reader graphic novel. Each story’s conclusion will keep readers pondering.

HOLM, Jennifer L. and Matthew Holm. Extreme Babymouse. Random. 2013. ISBN 9780375970962. JLG Level: GE : Graphic Novels Elementary (Grades 2–6).

Babymouse wants to be like everyone else, so she begs her mom to go snowboarding. Learning to keep her balance, stopping with no brakes, and avoiding bumps leave her with pain more than anything else. Her coach advises listening to her inner voice. Peer pressure challenges her to ski the bigger hill and take the longest jump. Getting to the bottom of the mountain is more than a challenge. It’s extreme. Will Babymouse let her friends coerce her into poor decisions? Fans of the series will appreciate the humorous illustrations that often speak louder than words.

HOLM, Jennifer L. and Matthew Holm. Squish: Game On! Random. 2013. ISBN 9780307983008. JLG Level: GE : Graphic Novels Elementary (Grades 2–6).

“Just one more level,” is the cry of an avid gamer. Finding a stopping place is almost impossible, and Squish finds it difficult to stop for friends, food, and schoolwork. With a book report due, four school tardies, and no costume prepared for the Comic Convention, gaming has consumed his life. Can he stop his obsession? Will he find a balance in his life? Book 5 in the series leaves the reader laughing while learning an important life lesson.

KROSOCZKA, Jarrett J. Lunch Lady and the Video Game Villain. Knopf. 2013. ISBN 9780307980809. JLG Level: GE : Graphic Novels Elementary (Grades 2–6).

Someone is stealing the technology at Thompson Brook School―and just before the new superintendent arrives for inspection. Lunch Lady is determined to find the culprit, while Hector runs for class president against his vote-buying competitor. When the boys do some investigation, it appears that the cyborg substitute teacher is back. How can that be when Mr. Edison is in jail? Is there a new villain in town? Can the Lunch Lady save the day while preventing the cafeteria from failing the inspection? A cliff-hanger conclusion will have fans of the series anticipating Book Ten.

Junior Library Guild is a collection development service that helps school and public libraries acquire the best new children’s and young adult books. Season after season, year after year, Junior Library Guild book selections go on to win awards, collect starred or favorable reviews, and earn industry honors. Visit us at www.JuniorLibraryGuild.com.

Since the publication of his very first Lunch Lady title, Lunch Lady and the Vyborg Substitute, in 2009, Krosoczka has heard countless stories of how his books have inspired kids to look at their school cafeteria workers with a newfound sense of awe and wonderment, he tells School Library Journal. “Through all of this, I’ve gotten to know the women and men who work tirelessly in our school cafeterias. They are such a fun and selfless bunch and don’t often get the recognition they deserve.”

Now he wants to use the popularity of his books to recognize the profession in a bigger way. “I didn’t set out to write the Lunch Lady books to shift perceptions, but it’s a gift that they have and I wanted to use that to create a day that would celebrate these folks,” Krosoczka tells SLJ.

Krosoczka will be gearing up for the first School Lunch Superhero Day with a visit to his own elementary school, Gates Lane Elementary in Worcester, MA, where “Lunch Lady” books, courtesy of Random House and the First Book organization, will be donated to every child.

Elsewhere, he hopes the day will inspire kids to make cards or even their own comics for their lunch staff, and the school library would make a perfect epicenter for this creative activity, he tells SLJ. He also suggests inviting local lunch ladies to the library or classroom to read from the “Lunch Lady” series, and asking them to share their own “secrets” with students. Students can surprise their lunch staff with snacks that they make, together with aprons that they have signed.

To help librarians and teachers develop these types of activities, Krosoczka has created a website where resources—including thank-you cards and other materials that can be downloaded, printed, and shared—will be made available. The site will also collect students’ own School Lunch Superhero tales recognizing the hard work and care that cafeteria staff put into their craft.

She reached out to the School Nutrition Association (SNA) with the idea, who then invited the author to speak at its national convention this summer. “It is the great marriage of food, fun, and books,” says Walker. “SNA members feed our children so they’ll be ready to learn. It reminds us that everyone in the school building needs to work together to nourish growing bodies and minds.”

School Lunch Superhero Day is also sponsored by Random House Children’s Books.

This week, authors Rita Williams-Garcia, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, and Mac Barnett share their stories of the season with SLJ. Last week, we heard from Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, along with author Liz Levy.

Rita Williams-Garcia

Rita Williams-Garcia and family

It was winter 1990, and my husband was preparing to go off to Saudi Arabia for Desert Storm [as a platoon sergeant for an engineering brigade, responsible for 52 soldiers who did battle damage assessments]. I asked my mother what she had sent my father when he was in Vietnam. She said, “Candy, cookies and nothing but good news.”

Our daughters, Michelle, 6, and Stephanie, 2, signed a card for their dad while I put together a tin box of cookies and candies, along with a photo of the family with a promise that we’d all be together SOON?. The night before we went to Floyd Bennett Field for his deployment, I stuffed the tin in Peter’s duffle bag along with a note: “Do not open until Christmas.”

We said our goodbyes and waved while trucks loaded with soldiers drove off. Then I bought a houseful of toys for my children, including a jungle gym with a slide which sat in our living room.

On Christmas morning I videotaped Michelle reading the Nativity story and mailed that to Peter along with a video of a New York Giants football game. Of everything, he remembers the tin box with cookies and candy on Christmas.

Jarrett J. Krosoczka

“I just don’t like Christmastime,” my grandmother Shirley would say as she leaned back in her chair at the kitchen table, taking a drag from her cigarette and a sip from her coffee. “I just think about all the people who don’t have nothin’, ya know. The parents who can’t buy presents for their kids. The people who you see on the news whose houses burn down on Christmas night. Then I think about all the women who get beaten by their husbands.” She would shake her head, but not before taking another puff of her unfiltered Camel, allowing the smoke to cover any hint of the pine needles in the adjacent living room.

Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Holly jolly.

Our halls weren’t exactly decked with the cheery sentiments of Christmas carols. We had a tinsel-draped tree filled with ornaments left over from the 1950s and ’60s. A few holiday items were placed atop side tables—an animatronic Santa and a porcelain Christmas tree that played “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”

“Time to take down the toys,” my grandfather Joe would mutter as he retrieved the few boxes of Christmas decorations kept in the garage. Joe’s job was to get the ornaments and set up the tree. The rest was up to my grandmother and me. Later, it was just my responsibility to trim the tree. As I hit adolescence, neither Joe nor Shirley saw any point in decorating when we’d only be taking everything down in a few weeks. Despite their aversion to covering the house in holiday décor, I would eagerly hand-draw Santas, candy canes, wreaths, and even mistletoe and place them throughout the front hallway.

Their dreary dispositions aside, they made sure I woke up every Christmas morning to an embarrassment of riches. A Smurf Big Wheel, collections of Transformers, ThunderCats, and G.I. Joes, a Nintendo, and, of course, always art supplies. There was nothing that made them happier than to see me happy. It’s what they dedicated their twilight years to. Aside from the many presents they lavished upon me, they gave me the greatest gift of all—a stable home, with two parental figures who loved me unconditionally.

It was just before Christmas of 1980 when I came to live with my grandparents full time. I had just turned three years old, and Joe and Shirley had already been taking care of me for the majority of my life. It had become clear that their daughter was never going to be stable enough to care for me, and the decision was made that I would live with them permanently.

I remember seeing the light of the Christmas tree through my tears as Shirley sat me down to explain that I would be living with them now and that I wouldn’t see my mother for some time. I remember her asking me what I liked to eat, so she could make sure I had my favorite meals. I told her that I liked meatball sandwiches. To distract me, she told me to pick out one present from under the tree and open it. Without missing a beat, I hopped off her lap and chose a box. I unwrapped it furiously. A tan Tonka pickup truck. I loved that truck and played with it endlessly.

Now I have a family of my own. And I, like my grandfather, grumble about getting the “toys” out of storage. But this is because my wife, Gina, has twenty-four red-and-green plastic bins filled to the brim with holiday cheer. It would have given Joe a heart attack. My two daughters will smile ear-to-ear on Christmas morning with the magic and wonder of the season. I will set out a porcelain Christmas tree that will chime out a tune and warn us all that we “better watch out.” And I will think of my grandparents, who gave me so very much at Christmastime.

Mac Barnett

When I was four I wanted a cuckoo clock for Christmas.

We lived in a small town and my mom didn’t have much money. My mother didn’t know where to buy a cuckoo clock, and if she did find one, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to afford it.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have a bicycle?” she would ask.

Mac Barnett

“How about Skeletor’s Castle? That would be a good gift,” she said.

“Or what about a nice regular clock, with a neat design on it?”

“No. I want a cuckoo clock.”

I didn’t know why she was so concerned. The cuckoo clock was Santa’s problem, not hers.

A week before Christmas, we went to see Santa at the mall. Standing in line, my mom asked, “Have you thought about what you’re going to ask him to get you for Christmas?”

What was wrong with this woman? I wanted a cuckoo clock.

Finally it was my turn. I climbed on Santa’s lap and gave him a drawing I’d made for him. It said, “I LOVE YOU SANTA.” (Always a good idea to flatter someone before you ask him for a hard-to-find gift.) We went through the usual small talk and then Santa asked, “Well, little boy, what do you want for Christmas?”

“Santa,” I said, “The thing I want most in the whole world is a cuckoo clock.”

Behind my back, my mom stood right in Santa’s eyeline, grimacing and slicing at her neck with her hand. Santa met her gaze, nodded, and looked down at me.

“Well…” said Santa. “That should be no problem. My elves are very good at making cuckoo clocks.”

I was overcome with joy as a man in reindeer antlers hustled me off Santa’s lap.

My mom was in a foul mood the rest of the day.

Of course, at the time I didn’t know the whole story. And I still don’t know why Santa did my mom dirty. All I know is that on Christmas day, I got a cuckoo clock.

Earlier ‘Holiday Memories’: 2006 ,2007,  2007, 2008, 2008, 2009, 2010,  2011.