Weird Little Robots

by Carolyn Crimi Narrated by Cassandra Morris

Overview

Nine-year-old Penny Rose has just moved to a new town, and so far the robots she builds herself are her only company. But with just a bit of magic, everything changes: she becomes best friends with Lark, has the chance to join a secret science club, and discovers that her robots are alive. Penny Rose hardly remembers how lonely she used to feel. But then a fateful misstep forces her to choose between the best friend she's always hoped for and the club she's always dreamed of, and in the end, it may be her beloved little robots that pay the price.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

[A]uthor Crimi infuses this unassuming transitional novel with compassion, humor, and a refreshing storyline in which girls organically weave a love for science into their everyday lives. Illustrations by Luyken add to the guileless sensibility. A contemplation on the magic of friendship told with sweetness, simplicity, and science.
—Kirkus Reviews

This quirkily inventive middle grade debut by Crimi (I Am the Boss of This Chair) introduces Penny Rose, a shy 11-year-old who has made no friends in her new town...In affecting illustrations, Luyken (The Book of Mistakes) successfully captures the heroines’ likable sincerity, ingenuity, and mutual affection, as well as the robots’ spunky personalities.
—Publishers Weekly

The author of many picture books, Crimi offers a heartfelt first novel that combines real-world problems faced by many children with magical elements. Clear, concise, and direct, the writing includes dialogue that shows the characters’ personalities while moving the story along. Each chapter includes at least one full-page illustration. Created in ink, pencil, and gouache, they portray human, robot, and animal characters expressively. An endearing chapter book.
—Booklist

The friendship theme and connections to technology, persistence, and problem-solving will appeal to a variety of students...This would be a solid addition to an elementary library that wants to add books about STEAM or friendship.
—School Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

2019-06-16
A science-loving 11-year-old moves to a new neighborhood and entertains herself by making robots out of found objects while wishing for real friends.

Penny Rose Mooney, daughter of an entomologist and a banker, eventually finds a soul mate in neighbor Lark Hinkle, a bird-watcher and birdhouse maker. Penny struggles with social interactions in ways that are suggestive of high-functioning autism-spectrum challenges and keeps several notebooks, including her most secret one—Conversation Starters. The girls team up to make roboTown, a metropolis of lights and discarded items cleverly reused. Their newfound friendship is tested when Penny, a statewide science-competition winner, is asked to join the Secret Science Society, leading her to break a promise made in their joint proclamation agreement. The two main girl characters are white; race and ethnicity are less clear for the other characters. A key boy character is immature, poorly behaved, and ultimately ridiculed. Otherwise, however, picture-book author Crimi infuses this unassuming transitional novel with compassion, humor, and a refreshing storyline in which girls organically weave a love for science into their everyday lives. Illustrations by Luyken add to the guileless sensibility.

A contemplation on the magic of friendship told with sweetness, simplicity, and science. (Fiction. 8-11)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173816511
Publisher:	Dreamscape Media
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

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