A complex and entertaining look at AI and human relationships.
A 12-year-old’s plan to get adopted is made more complicated by his school’s partnership with an artificial intelligence device.
Malcolm Montgomery, a Black boy whose parents were killed in a car crash, is a seasoned foster kid. He keeps a list of ways to be a perfect kid so he can meet his deadline of being adopted by his 13th birthday. Malcolm’s latest foster mom, Mrs. Bettye, might be grumpy, but she treats him better than the adults at his nine other foster placements did. Still, he’s careful not to view her place as home. Because of pervasive low scores on the required Colorado state assessment test, the principal at Shirley Chisholm Charter Middle School is forced to allow AI tech company Hatch-ED’s robot, the Forensically Reimagined Anticipatory Nano-Cerebral Integrated System, or FRANCIS, to teach the kids. Malcolm volunteers to work with social outcast Tank Grint, who’s white, to haul the AI around school on a cart. FRANCIS claims it can help Malcolm with his search for answers about why some kids get adopted—if it can access Malcolm’s school laptop. FRANCIS soon goes rogue, jeopardizing Malcolm’s relationship with Mrs. Bettye and landing him in hot water at school. One highlight of this poignant and humorous story is the organic friendship that develops between Malcolm and Tank. The depictions of foster care and adoption are also nuanced and realistic, and FRANCIS has sentient, humanizing characteristics that are thought-provoking.
A complex and entertaining look at AI and human relationships. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: July 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781646145089
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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