House of Robots

by James Patterson, Chris Grabenstein, Juliana Neufeld (Illustrator)

Overview

In this new highly-illustrated series from James Patterson, an extraordinary robot signs up for an ordinary fifth grade class... and elementary school will never be the same!

It was never easy for Sammy Hayes-Rodriguez to fit in, so he's dreading the day when his genius mom insists he bring her newest invention to school: a walking, talking robot he calls E—for "Error". Sammy's no stranger to robots—his house is full of a colorful cast of them. But this one not only thinks it's Sammy's brother... it's actually even nerdier than Sammy. Will E be Sammy's one-way ticket to Loserville? Or will he prove to the world that it's cool to be square? It's a roller-coaster ride for Sammy to discover the amazing secret E holds that could change family forever... if all goes well on the trial run!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316405911
Publisher:	Little, Brown & Company
Publication date:	11/24/2014
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	134,387
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	750L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

James Patterson has had more New York Times bestsellers than any other writer, ever, according to Guinness World Records. Since his first novel won the Edgar Award in 1977 James Patterson's books have sold more than 300 million copies. He is the author of the Alex Cross novels, the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.

Hometown:

Palm Beach, Florida

Date of Birth:

March 22, 1947

Place of Birth:

Newburgh, New York

Education:

B.A., Manhattan College, 1969; M.A., Vanderbilt University, 1971

Website:

http://www.jamespatterson.com

Editorial Reviews

Sammy Hayes-Rodriguez already feels like the ultimate middle school outsider, but he feels even more remote after his techie mom sends him off to class with a very talented, homemade robot. The arrival of mechanical "E" proves to be a learning experience for all involved. An illustrated novel by mega-bestselling author James Patterson.

10/13/2014
Patterson and Grabenstein, collaborators on the I Funny books, launch the House of Robots series, about Sammy Hayes-Rodriguez and his family, whose household brims with robots invented by his genius mother. Fifth-grader Sammy is mortified when his mother insists that E, her newest invention, accompany him to school. The comically disruptive robot—who Neufeld draws to resemble C-3PO crossed with a stereotypical geek—contradicts teachers, escalates a food fight, and sparks a fire after his feverish recitation of science facts overloads his circuit boards. Underlying the novel’s laughs are themes of friendship, compassion, and family, particularly in regard to Sammy’s devotion to his younger sister, who is housebound due to severe immunodeficiency, and his deepening relationship with his “bro-bot.” E’s disappearance interjects a splash of mystery into the story, while Neufeld’s (Treasure Hunters) raucous cartoons and comics sequences (not all seen by PW) amp up the comedy with slapstick action, metafictional gags, and lots of robo-gadgetry. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: (for Patterson) Robert Barnett and Deneen Howell, Williams & Connolly LLP; (for Grabenstein) Eric Myers, Spieler Agency. Illustrator’s agency: Shannon Associates. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for House of Robots:
A #1 New York Times Bestseller"

Underlying the novel's laughs are themes of friendship, compassion, and family, particularly in regard to Sammy's devotion to his younger sister...and his deepening relationship with his 'bro-bot.'"—Publishers Weekly

"A good fit for reluctant readers."—CommonSenseMedia.org

From the Publisher

Taking a robot to school should be fun, right? Well for Sammy Hayes-Rodriguez, it is anything but! Sammy cannot understand why his mother (a genius who builds robots for everything: cooking, cleaning, gardening, traffic reporting, etc.) is forcing him to take E—short for Egghead or as Sammy likes to call him, Error—to school. It is hard enough to fit in without E embarrassing him by correcting his teachers, showing off in gym class, and starting a food fight in the cafeteria and that is just the first day! After that disastrous day at school, Sammy’s mom is asked to keep E home until modifications can be made to make him a better student. Sammy cannot believe his luck and hopes that his mom will not be able to fix E. But alas, his hopes are dashed when E is working perfectly in a few days and returns to school with him. This time around though, things seem better…E is actually cool! He performs tricks, is polite and helpful and even stops the local bully, Cooper Elliot, from beating up Sammy and his friend Trip. Everyone wants to hang out with E and his popularity rubs off on Sammy and Trip and when E mysteriously disappears, Sammy feels the loss more deeply than he anticipated. When E is found and returned to the family, he is in pieces and Sammy is not sure his mom will be able to repair him this time. But, miracles do happen and E is as good as new and Sammy finally learns why E had to go to school with him and how important this “experiment” is to his sister Maddie who has the rare disease SCID (Severe Combined Immuno-deficiency) and cannot leave the house because she has trouble fighting off any kind of infection. With the help of Neufeld’s illustrations, readers will become attached to the characters (human and robot, alike) and will be drawn into the story like one would expect with the writing collaboration of Patterson and Grabenstein. Reviewer: Suzie Davis; Ages 11 to 13.

Children's Literature - Suzie Davis

2015-01-07
Sammy is less than thrilled when his genius inventor mother creates a robot brother for him.Sammy Hayes-Rodriguez's life has always been filled with robots. His mother has invented automatons that clean the floors, mow the lawn, give traffic reports and even plant fantastic gardens. Sammy's school has until now been a robot-free zone, but when Mom invents E (for Egghead, or maybe Einstein Jr.—his parents can't decide) and insists Sammy take the new robot to school, things get out of hand. Chronicling the ups and downs of an entire school year with a robot brother, the authors put cute sci-fi twists on first-time crushes, school bullies and best-friend troubles. There's nothing here that breaks new ground or illuminates the psyche of young boys in any new or interesting ways, but there are plenty of amusing jokes. Young readers with an interest in science will certainly be engaged. A subplot featuring Sammy's younger sister, a brilliant girl who is homebound by severe combined immunodeficiency disorder, is as by-the-numbers as the rest of the book, but it doesn't tie in to the robot plot until the very end. It's hard to tell if this development is a clumsy climax or an awkward setup for a sequel. Either way, it doesn't work well with everything that came beforehand. A perfectly acceptable and predictable trifle. (Science fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews