C.L.U.T.Z.

Machine? Creature? Being? Rodney wasn't sure how to think of him. He hadn't known robots could have so much personality."" And so C.L.U.T.Z., short for Combined Level Unit/Type Z, joins Rodney's family and is saved from the scrap heap, where the robot's old family and their sleek new Butler model robot would have him. C.L.U.T.Z. is a good cook and is programmed for loyalty and service, but he lives up to his acronym. When C.L.U.T.Z. fixes the telecommunicator, Dad turns it on and goes zooming off through the air in his float-a-lounge, made haywire by C.L.U.T.Z.'s repairs. ""Tomorrow he goes"" is Dad's ultimatum after a wild ride--and C.L.U.T.Z., overhearing, dives into the trash-conveyer chute. Wilkes takes the robot through an underground disposal-recycling center, sends Rodney and his fuzzy pink Muttus, Aurora, off in search, and, of course, brings them all together at the end. It's formula stuff, but at least Wilkes avoids the usual traps in handling C.L.U.T.Z.'s human-like qualities and sub-human status. And the story zips along painlessly, suggesting rapid circulation in those summer-reading speedathons.