Reviews provided by Syndetics
Publishers Weekly Review
The newest student at Vanguard Middle School is Fuzzy, a robot developed as part of a government project exploring advanced artificial intelligence. In order to aid with Fuzzy's integration into the school, which is already under the control of the ultra-strict supercomputer known as Vice Principal Barbara, Maxine "Max" Zelaster is selected to act as his guide and friend. However, Max and Fuzzy face the anti-robot prejudices of those tired of losing their jobs to automation, as well as Barbara's increasingly tyrannical micromanagement. Complicating matters, the military keeps pushing up Fuzzy's development timeline, and someone is out to steal his unique code. Angleberger (the Origami Yoda series) and adult SF/fantasy author Dellinger draw a lot of comedy out of Fuzzy's challenging acclimation to middle school, and seem to have put substantial thought into the complexity of the software that makes him work (Fuzzy shorts out in the cafeteria after trying to listen to 250 kids talking at once). It's a fast-paced, entertaining romp that also offers a nuanced examination of intelligence, free will, and omnipresent technology. Ages 8-12. Agent: Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown Literary. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Fuzzy, an artificially intelligent robot, is Vanguard One Middle School's newest student. He will be joining the seventh grade as part of the much-publicized Robot Integration Program (RIP). Max is super excited when she is called in to assist the robot with navigating the middle school halls. Max's mother, who lost her job to a robot, however, is less than thrilled. And when Max starts getting in trouble at school and doing poorly on the Constant UpGrade (CUG) tests, her parents are furious. Fuzzy, concerned about his new friend, begins running a Help Max subroutine and accidentally discovers the school's computerized vice principal, Barbara, involved in some sketchy activity. Things really get out of hand when Max learns the true reason Fuzzy has been integrated into the school, and some cyberspies threaten the entire program. With his signature tongue-in-cheek humor, Angleberger, along with adult sci-fi author Dellinger, takes on public education's overtesting, concern with school and teacher ratings, and the increasing reliance on frequently glitchy technology. Although Fuzzy's voice could have sounded a bit more robotic, narrator Erin Moon does well giving voice to a large cast of characters. VERDICT Students who are interested in robotics, technology, and STEM will delight in this futuristic adventure from the author of the "Origami Yoda" series. ["An absorbing, fast-paced read and an excellent choice for middle schoolers": SLJ 8/16 review of the Abrams Amulet book.]-Lisa Hubler, Charles F. Brush High School, Lyndhurst, OH © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Angleberger teams up with science fiction writer Dellinger to transport readers to the near future, where middle school still stinks (sorry, kids) but at least has robots. Though students at Vanguard One Middle School are used to seeing mechanized custodians and lunch ladies even their vice principal is a supercomputer they are abuzz with curiosity over Fuzzy, their first ever robot student. Max can barely contain her excitement when she is chosen to show Fuzzy the ropes. Equipped with humanlike fuzzy logic, Fuzzy's mission is to learn to navigate the most hostile environment Earth has to offer (middle school). Soon, however, a new mission takes precedent: HelpMax. Convinced that Vice Principal Barbara has gone rogue, Max and Fuzzy put a risky plan into action while trying to keep the robot safe from outside threats. Middle-school drama is ratcheted up as school testing and technology are taken to the extreme. The result is a smart, sci-fi page-turner that will grab kids' imagination and appeal to their conscience and sense of humor. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Angleberger plus robots? If that doesn't equal a best-seller, we don't know what does.--Smith, Julia Copyright 2016 Booklist
Horn Book Review
Life quickly gets complicated for seventh-grader Max Zelaster the day she meets Fuzzy, the first robot student at Vanguard Middle School. Designed to use fuzzy logic (hence his name), Fuzzy can think for himself and update his own programming. On paper, he sounds like a model student for Vanguard, a Constant UpGrade school run by a virtual vice principal -- a supercomputer responsible for tracking everything from weekly multiple-choice exam results to proper bathroom hand-washing etiquette. But Fuzzy thinks outside the box. Case in point: Whats two plus two? Fuzzys answer: Tutu. As it turns out, Max, whos been tasked with teaching the robot how to navigate the school hallways, is quite a free thinker, too. Before long, the pair is in hot water with the ever-watchful, control-freak vice principal, and Maxs days at Vanguard may be numbered. Set some fifty years in the future, Angleberger and Dellingers novel raises thought-provoking questions about intelligence (artificial and otherwise), cutting-edge technology, and high-stakes standardized testing. Briskly paced and laced with plenty of humor, the sci-fi story is also, at its core, a tale about friendship -- about a human and a robot muddling through the messy ins-and-outs of adolescence together. tanya d. auger (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
TextPublication details: New York : Amulet Books, 2016.Description: 253 pages cmISBN: