When Max (Maxine Zealster) befriends her new robot classmate Fuzzy, she helps him navigate Vanguard Middle School and together they reveal the truth behind the Robot Integration Program. - (Baker & Taylor)
When Max befriends her new robot classmate, Fuzzy, she helps him navigate Vanguard Middle School and together they reveal the truth behind the Robot Integration Program. - (Baker & Taylor)
From the minds of Tom Angleberger, the New York Times bestselling author of the wildly popular Origami Yoda series, and Paul Dellinger, an adult science-fiction writer, comes Fuzzy, a funny middle school story with a memorable robot title character.
When Max—Maxine Zelaster—befriends her new robot classmate Fuzzy, part of Vanguard One Middle School’s new Robot Integration Program, she helps him learn everything he needs to know about surviving middle school—the good, the bad, and the really, really, ugly. Little do they know that surviving seventh grade is going to become a true matter of life and death, because Vanguard has an evil presence at its heart: a digital student evaluation system named BARBARA that might be taking its mission to shape the perfect student to extremes!
With a strong female main character who will appeal to all readers, Tom Angleberger and Paul Dellinger’s new novel offers readers a fresh take on robots. Fuzzy will find its place in the emerging category of bestselling books featuring robots, including Jon Scieszka’s Frank Einstein series and James Patterson’s House of Robots.
Reluctant readers and robot lovers in elementary and middle school will enjoy this fast-paced read that shows just how strange a place middle school can be, particularly when the new student is a state-of-the-art robot.
Also by Tom Angleberger:
Poop Fountain!
The Rat with the Human Face
Horton Halfpott
Fake Mustache
The Origami Yoda series:
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
Darth Paper Strikes Back
The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee
Emperor Pickletine Rides the Bus
Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue
The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppet
- (
Grand Central Pub)
From the minds of Tom Angleberger, the New York Times bestselling author of the wildly popular Origami Yoda series, and Paul Dellinger, an adult science-fiction writer, comes Fuzzy, a funny middle school story with a memorable robot title character.
When Max—Maxine Zelaster—befriends her new robot classmate Fuzzy, part of Vanguard One Middle School’s new Robot Integration Program, she helps him learn everything he needs to know about surviving middle school—the good, the bad, and the really, really, ugly. Little do they know that surviving seventh grade is going to become a true matter of life and death, because Vanguard has an evil presence at its heart: a digital student evaluation system named BARBARA that might be taking its mission to shape the perfect student to extremes!
With a strong female main character who will appeal to all readers, Tom Angleberger and Paul Dellinger’s new novel offers readers a fresh take on robots. Fuzzy will find its place in the emerging category of bestselling books featuring robots, including Jon Scieszka’s Frank Einstein series and James Patterson’s House of Robots.
Reluctant readers and robot lovers in elementary and middle school will enjoy this fast-paced read that shows just how strange a place middle school can be, particularly when the new student is a state-of-the-art robot.
Also by Tom Angleberger:
Poop Fountain!
The Rat with the Human Face
Horton Halfpott
Fake Mustache
The Origami Yoda series:
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
Darth Paper Strikes Back
The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee
Emperor Pickletine Rides the Bus
Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue
The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppet
- (
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.)
From the minds of Tom Angleberger, the New York Times bestselling author of the wildly popular Origami Yoda series, and Paul Dellinger, an adult science-fiction writer, comes a funny middle school story with a memorable robot title character. Reluctant readers and robot lovers in elementary and middle school will enjoy this fast-paced read that shows just how strange a place middle school can be, particularly when the new student is a state-of-the-art robot.
When Max'maxine Zelaster'befriends her new robot classmate Fuzzy, part of Vanguard One Middle School's new Robot Integration Program, she helps him learn everything he needs to know about surviving middle school'the good, the bad, and the really, really, ugly. Little do they know that surviving seventh grade is going to become a true matter of life and death, because Vanguard has an evil presence at its heart: a digital student evaluation system named BARBARA that might be taking its mission to shape the perfect student to extremes!
With a strong female main character who will appeal to all readers, Tom Angleberger and Paul Dellinger's new novel offers readers a fresh take on robots. Fuzzy will find its place in the emerging category of bestselling books featuring robots, including Jon Scieszka' s Frank Einstein series and James Patterson's House of Robots.
Be sure to check out all of Tom Angleberger's other acclaimed books for middle-grade readers, including Poop Fountain!; The Rat with the Human Face; Horton Halfpott; Fake Mustache; and the bestselling Origami Yoda series: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, Darth Paper Strikes Back, The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee, Emperor Pickletine Rides the Bus,Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue, and Jabba the Puppet. For younger readers Tom wrote the picture book McToad Mows Tiny Island, illustrated by John Hendrix, and for chapter book readers, Tom wrote the Inspector Flytrap series, illustrated by his wife Cece Bell.
- (
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.)
Tom Angleberger is the author of the bestselling Origami Yoda series, as well as Horton Halfpott and Fake Mustache, both Edgar Award nominees, the Qwikpick Papers series, and the Inspector Flytrap series. He lives in Christiansburg, Virginia, with his wife, the author/illustrator Cece Bell.
Paul Dellinger is a former newspaper reporter who writes science-fiction and fantasy stories, many of which are collected in the book Mr. Lazarus and Other Stories.
- (
Grand Central Pub)
Tom Angleberger is the author of the bestselling Origami Yoda series, as well as Horton Halfpott and Fake Mustache, both Edgar Award nominees, the Qwikpick Papers series, and the Inspector Flytrap series. He lives in Christiansburg, Virginia, with his wife, the author/illustrator Cece Bell.
Paul Dellinger is a former newspaper reporter who writes science-fiction and fantasy stories, many of which are collected in the book Mr. Lazarus and Other Stories.
- (
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.)
Booklist Reviews
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. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.
Horn Book Guide Reviews
Life gets complicated for seventh grader Max when she meets Fuzzy, the first robot student at Vanguard Middle School. Fuzzy thinks outside the box, and Max is a free thinker, too. Before long, the pair is in hot water, and Max's days at Vanguard may be numbered. Set some fifty years in the future, the story is briskly paced, with plenty of humor. Copyright 2016 Horn Book Guide Reviews.
Horn Book Magazine Reviews
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: What's two plus two? Fuzzy's answer: Tutu. As it turns out, Max, who's 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 Max's days at Vanguard may be numbered. Set some fifty years in the future, Angleberger and Dellinger's 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
Kirkus Reviews
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) Copyright Kirkus 2016 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
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.)
[Page ]. Copyright 2016 PWxyz LLC
School Library Journal Reviews
Gr 5–8—Max is looking forward to starting sixth grade because this year her school is launching a new program, Robot Integration, and Max is excited about meeting the first ever robot student. When she meets Fuzzy, Max quickly befriends him and is assigned to show him the ropes. Not everyone at school is excited about the new student. The assistant principal, an AI computer named Barbara, seems determined to get rid of both Fuzzy and Max. When Fuzzy winds up in a showdown with Barbara, somebot's bound to be reprogrammed. In some ways, this is a typical school story—smart kids, clueless adults, overly tough school administrators, and some bad guys (cyberspies) thrown in for good measure. It's also a futuristic sci-fi novel with a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the evils of standardized testing gone awry. VERDICT An absorbing, fast-paced read and an excellent choice for middle schoolers.—Kathy Kirchoefer, Henderson County Public Library, NC
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