Crispy, emerald bills and coins embellished with presidents and other important people. Imagine having a brain flooded with money. All you can think about is money and the possible ways to earn it. This is the case of the protagonist of Lunch Money. He had everything planned out and strongly desired to become wealthy. However, one day, an old rival of his crossed paths with him, threatening his ploy. If this sounds interesting to you, you should definitely peruse through the book.
Lunch Money is about a kid named Greg Kenton who is exceptionally canny in various subjects, like math, science, history, language arts, etc. However, he has a colossal passion: money. Greg has attempted to receive money at an early age by doing jobs for people, selling items, and more. He’s even done chores for his older brothers just to get money. He daydreams about becoming prosperous one day and continues his plans at school. One day, Greg notices that people trade items all the time and can even barter for money. This gives him an idea to start selling products at school.
He starts off with toys, but he gets in trouble for that. It’s a real bummer, but when he finds a loophole in what the principal told him, he realizes he can sell other things. Hence, Greg starts creating and selling Chunky Comics, being inspired by all of the collections of comics his dad collected and how much he himself cherishes them as well. His plan seems to be going smoothly until a girl who lives in his neighborhood and has known him for an extremely prolonged time starts “copying” his idea. Her name is Maura Shaw, and for a while, she has been following and emulating him, like when they both rode a tricycle and Maura kept mimicking his movements at a young age.
Greg confronts her about it, and things don’t end very well. He gets a black eye since Maura accidentally struck him with her fist. Greg hates her even more and gets embarrassed, and the math teacher who has witnessed this decides to try to resolve their issues, knowing their past rivalries. Some of the discussions actually help Greg rethink his actions and ways as well as the time the principal notices these being sold and scolds both Greg and Maura since they are like comics. Later on, Greg and Maura find out that the Book Club has the ability to sell books and comics, as well as other flyers being shown as advertisements to sell drinks, food, and more products.
Greg and Maura, hence, Greg and Maura start getting closer and partner up to create a beautifully-illustrated comic based on Maura’s, and they understand each other’s perspectives and respect each other’s ideas more. Although they don’t seem to be the best talking partners, they do work well and quickly, getting the job done hastily. However, time is racing, and they need to find a way to convince the school to let them sell these comics. What will happen next? Will they capitulate the idea or will they try to coerce them into permitting them to sell these comics? Read the book to find out!
I would rate this book 4.5 stars out of 5, as it did contain some unnecessary details, like when it barely mentioned Maura thinking Greg appeared kind of “cute.” It’s hardly brought up, and there wasn’t much development to make her think that. Other than that, it has an amazing plot idea with interesting characters who clash together and still manage to try to accord with each other. I would recommend this book to people who love reading realistic fiction, are obsessed with money, and just want to binge-read a relaxing yet plot-twisting book. Make sure you try out this book!
Written by Kruti Patel
