Fuzzy by Tom Angleberger and Paul Dellinger

Fuzzy written by Tom Angleberger and Paul Dellinger. (Published 2016). 263  pgs. L700. RL 5.2 Int Lvl 3-6. This easy to read, quick-moving science fiction story combines the worlds of humans and robots in a middle school where one spunky human seventh grader befriends the newest robot student, and together they work to uncover the plot behind the Robot Integration Program. 

Kirkus Reviews starred (June 15, 2016)

Vanguard Middle School's no place for breaking rules; computerized Vice Principal Barbara sees to that.Sixth-grader Maxine "Max" Zelaster and her friends struggle to pass the Federal School Board's nonstop tests in the newly instituted Constant UpGrade program. The kids think they are doing well, but their grades don't reflect their work. Their cumulative scores are dragged even lower by discipline tags and citizenship infractions, all noted by Barbara's all-seeing electronic eyes. Enter Fuzzy, the government's attempt to create a robot that will program itself. Scientists in the Robot Integration Program ask Max to show Fuzzy around because of her interest in robots, but this leads to further trouble for Max at school and at home; Barbara just seems to have it in for her. Fuzzy uncovers irregularities with test scoring and begins to suspect something's wrong with the vice principal, but can he save his new friend Max while evading corporate spies and his creators' plans for his future? Origami Yoda creator Angleberger teams up with science-fiction writer Dellinger for this funny, thrilling, and thought-provoking page-turner. Riffing on some of the same issues as Origami Yoda's second trilogy--individuality and the dangers of standardized testing--the duo have crafted a day-after-tomorrow cautionary tale of friendship with a fuzzy, robotic heart. Provocative issues that never overwhelm storytelling make this a winner. (Science fiction. 8-12)

This book has been a great change of pace for my 4th graders. The plot is fresh and new -combining the idea of robots who run the school and think for themselves.  It is loaded with humor and kids pulling together to work to uncover devious plots. The fact that it deals with questionable standardized tests sucks my students into the plot as they are all working on them as well. It is a great book for this time of year.

~Posted by Liz Stafford

Are We There Yet? by Dan Santat

Are We There Yet? by Dan Santat.  Published (2016).  unnumbered pages.   R.L. 2.0  K-2. Riding in the care for hours on end can be really boring.  What if you changed things up just a bit and literally turned everything upside down?

Booklist starred (February 1, 2016 (Vol. 112, No. 11))

Grades K-2. Following his Caldecott win for The Adventures of Beekle (2014), Santat offers an imaginative account of a boy’s car trip to his grandmother’s birthday party. What begins in excitement quickly devolves into boredom as minutes stretch into an hour. But then, readers are invited to consider what happens when their brain grows “too bored.” Let the interactive reading begin! The words begin to spiral around a spread featuring the boy’s glazed expression, forcing the book to be rotated and read upside down. Suddenly, the slow-moving time transports the car back in history, placing it alongside a steam locomotive, a pirate ship, a jousting knight, and the newly built Sphinx in Cairo. The whole time, the parents appear startled by the changing scenery, but the boy’s complaints (“My butt hurts”) continue until time stretches all the way back to the dinosaur-filled Jurassic period. Finally, he starts having fun, and time starts to fly; back around the book goes, sending the family to Grandma’s at last. The gambit to get kids involved in the story works, and Santat’s rich illustrations—ranging from double-page spreads to comic-style panels—carry it home. The text, on the other hand, reads a bit like greeting-card advice, but the inventive format and engrossing artwork will make kids happy to go along for the ride.

Reading this book to 2nd graders is really a fun experience.  I tell them that the author is Dan Santat,,,,,who is that?  they ask.  Next I hold up Beekle and they explode with interest.  I tell them that just like Beekle, this book is not just a surface story.  I read it through once and then we go back and look at all the clues in the illustrations about what is really happening. We then share ways to travel and pass the time.  This is a great book to share when vacation time and car trips are just around the corner!

Posted by Margo Irving

Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery, & a Very Strange Adventure by Lissa Evans

Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery, & a Very Strange Adventure by Lissa Evans. (Published 2012). 207 pgs. L810. RL 5.9.  A lively mystery awaits your students in this engaging read aloud.

Booklist (April 1, 2012 (Vol. 108, No. 15))

Grades 4-7. Stuart Horten, 10, is sure he is in for the dullest summer ever when he moves with his working-all-the-time mom and dork-supreme dad, who is excited to return to the town he grew up in. Stuart’s lack of enthusiasm is compounded by a set of nosy triplet girls next door, but things start looking up when he learns about how his great-uncle Tony—who was a magician of some renown and an inventor of fabulous contraptions—disappeared years ago. And then things get downright exciting when he discovers a handful of old coins that unlock a series of clues scattered about town that promise to reveal the location of Tony’s long-hidden workshop. Stuart is a likable, plucky little guy, the Charlie Bucket to great-uncle Tony’s Willy Wonka. While the mystery is tempered by the fact that solutions to the clues often come about more by happenstance than any cunning on Stuart’s part, the elements of magical realism that waft through the narrative keep things humming along nicely. This British import, longlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, leaves the door ajar for more adventures.

My fifth graders loved Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery, & a Very Strange Adventure by Lissa Evans.  Although it speaks to all ability levels, my gifted and talented students loved it.  I am not sure if  it was the humor, the challenging words used by his cross-word-building father, or that they would, like Stuart, be just the sort of student to go looking for such clues.  Using the map in the book, which is the map Stuart uses in the story, the students were able to track clue after clue helping them identify the location of the hidden workshop.

Posted by Kellie Hale