She's Building a Robot: (Book for STEM girls ages 8-12)

by Mick Liubinskas

Overview

An Inspirational Book for Girls Who Love STEM

“This book is an inspiration to the next-gen of women innovators all over the world.”— Charlotte Yarkoni, CVP Cloud & AI, Microsoft

AZ is a young girl who finds herself in a robot building competition. Can she use girl power to overcome crashes, explosions, and hackers to beat school bully and three-time champ, Dalk?

Smart and strong is the new pretty. In this funny, action-packed book about robots for kids, talented AZ fights gender and learns tough lessons on leadership. With the help of her quirky friends, Li and 10, the team builds a feisty robot named Ada. Together, they work hard, solve puzzles, grow in confidence, and learn the importance of friendship and collaboration.

All science girls welcome! Written to raise awareness about the challenges faced by women in science and engineering, She’s Building a Robot celebrates voices from diverse socioeconomic and ethnic background. Perfect for bedtime stories or girls who code, She’s Building a Robot gives young women the opportunity to relate to smart characters, promotes girl empowerment, and shows that there’s room in STEM for girls.

If you’re looking for young girl gifts, robot books for kids, or stories for children—or enjoyed books like The Fourteenth Goldfish, Women in Science, and Hidden Figures Young Reader’ Edition—then She’s Building a Robot is your next read!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781642503418
Publisher:	Mango Media
Publication date:	12/15/2020
Pages:	190
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Mick Liubinskas is a technology entrepreneur, investor, author, speaker and industry leader. For the past eighteen years he has co-founded four technology startup companies and the muru-D technology accelerator. In 2012, he and his team co-wrote the workbook Startup Focus.

Mick is a dad of three and currently resides in Silicon Valley.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This book is an inspiration to the next-gen of women innovators all over the world.”— Charlotte Yarkoni, CVP Cloud & AI, Microsoft

"Yes! We need more women building robots and leading in tech. As a mom of a strong daughter, we love this book.”— Carrie Palin Sandstad, SVP & CMO Splunk

Editorial Reviews

11/13/2020

Gr 4–6—AZ is a middle school student who is clever, but generally not the best in her class. The book opens with AZ solving a logic puzzle in class before the star student, Dalk, who just so happens to be the genius son of a Silicon Valley robotics CEO. Dalk does not take kindly to being upstaged by AZ and tries to force an apology from her for cheating on the puzzle—but AZ decides to enter the Robotics Competition instead, to prove that she truly has the smarts to beat him. After her first attempts are less than satisfactory, she manages to run into Lucia Machado, a local robotics celebrity who decides to help AZ form a team that will finally put Dalk in his place. While the premise of the book is sound, and the included logic puzzles and mathematical definitions will help keep readers engaged, (as will the in-text tribute to Ada Lovelace), there are significant literary issues evident throughout. Most of the characters feel flat and unrealistic, and there are inconsistencies in the text, plot, and style. For example, AZ is called to a meeting in her school office with a stranger who is not a family member or a teacher, which is odd in itself; but in the next chapter, she mentions to the school librarian that the mysterious Lucia Machado had visited her at her home. These types of errors, coupled with confusing writing and moments of pure science fiction in a book otherwise seemingly rooted in reality, may make it hard for readers to suspend disbelief or fully grasp the plot. VERDICT With a bit more polish, this could serve as a stepping stone to teaching children teamwork and programming skills.—Sara Brunkhorst, Glenview P.L., IL

School Library Journal