ACTIVATE ROBO-BOOK!

BEEP BOOP BOOP BEEP. You've never seen a book quite like this before. Popular picture book author-and-illustrator team Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri are back with Robo-Sauce, an inventively hilarious story that packs a resounding robo-punch. 

Like many kids, the main character of this book loves to play robot... but what if there were a way to become a real robot--with lasers for eyes, rockets for feet, and a supercomputer for a brain--and never have to eat steamed beans or take baths ever again? Enter Robo-Sauce (recipe included)!

But the downside about real robots? It's hard for them to play with their friends or family or dog for fear of wreaking havoc on those they love with all that robot extra strength. So what's an all-powerful but ultimately lonely robot to do? 

This wildly entertaining story takes readers on an unexpectedly interactive ride, and the warning sticker on the book's cover--"WARNING THIS BOOK TURNS INTO A ROBOT"--is meant to be taken literally. It's a perfect read-aloud or one-on-one share for the preschool through second-grade set.  

AN UNUSUAL FAMILY

A review by Theresa: 

Their divorced family is a bit unusual as mom and dad are still friends and very involved with their twins, Nick and Eryn. When mom suddenly announces that she and her long-time boyfriend Michael are getting married, the expectation is that very little will change. But that may not be the case in Margaret Peterson Haddix’s book Under Their Skin. First of all they are going to move into a new house. Then the twins discover that Michael has two children that they have never met and there are no plans to get the kids together even though they are close in age. Very quickly changes come flying at the twins and the discovery that they make on a snowy day will change their lives forever. 

This new two-part series is a combination of science fiction, suspense and mystery guaranteed to keep the reader guessing. For readers 5th grade and up.

ROBOT AND HUMAN RELATIONS

The Robot Wars have been over for several months, and the former United States is now divided into different districts. Trout St. Kroix awaits his father's return. In desperation, he asks a friend to make a plea to the public on the Net for any information regarding his father. An unexpected turn of events occur, and Trout finds that he has endangered himself and his older brother. When his brother is captured, Trout makes an adventurous journey to the Bot District where he learns more about his father's whereabouts. Will Trout ever see his brother again?

J.V. KADE write a suspenseful sci-fi story that will have readers cheer for Trout and for the robots. Click on the link BOT WARS and reserve a copy today. 

For 5th grade and up.

WHAT IS GIFTED EXACTLY?

Ungifted by Gordon Korman is a funny tale of a series of unfortunate incidents.  Unintended accidents really, according to Donovan.  You see, Donovan wasn't gifted and never even wanted to go to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction until he got in trouble again, and realized this was as good as any place to hide out from Dr. Schultz, the school district superintendent.   However, being in the gifted program isn't as easy an out as it seems and it's just a matter of time before he's discovered for the fraud that he is.  

As the robotics team, all the teachers and every single student wait for Donovan's special talent to reveal itself, the gifted students in his homeroom discover that what they really want is normalcy in the form of Donovan in their lives, not to mention being grateful to him for getting them out of summer school by way of his pregnant sister because of a missed human development class. 

What follows is a series of mishaps, subterfuge, the forging of friendships and camaraderie among the unlikeliest of eighth graders.  Told from multiple points of view in each chapter, this is another fun and fast paced winner.  For reader 6th-8th.

LAST MAN STANDING

When Fisher was born, he wasn't an infant.  And he didn't come out of his mother's womb.  Nobody held him and hugged him, or welcomed him into the world.  He was alone.  And a teenager.  And he was born in a survival pod.  Fisher is  the last human on Earth in a distant future from ours.  His ancestors tried to preserve as many species of animal and plant as the Earth deteriorated due to climate change and other man-made issues.  For Fisher, his main objective is to survive.  Along his journey he meets a custodial robot and a pygmy mammoth and together they figure out what it means to survive and what it means to be the last human on Earth.

Join Fisher in this post-apocalyptic tale of survival.  The Boy at the End of the World by Greg van Eekhout is perfect for lovers of science fiction and adventure in grades 5 and 6.