It's the end of the 21st century where technocrats rule and robots take care of humans’ every need. Your house watches you, knows your secret...
read full description
reviews
Dec 04, 2008
Ruhama
rated it: 
The future has a lot of robots, and humans have become very dependent on them! The Bell family is not very well off, but they have a butler robot who seems to do just fine for their purposes. Well, he was doing just fine, but lately his timing mechanism seems to be off, so
Mr. Bell decides to get a second robot to help Grumps out. He visits his friend Professor Ogden to see what he can scrounge up, and gets an experimental robot called EGR3--a revolutionary prototype that allows thinking an More...
Mr. Bell decides to get a second robot to help Grumps out. He visits his friend Professor Ogden to see what he can scrounge up, and gets an experimental robot called EGR3--a revolutionary prototype that allows thinking an More...
Jul 17, 2011
Text
rated it: 
My son insisted that I read this Juvenile-level science fiction novel; he thought it was very interesting. And I agree. It’s not often you find a novel of any description that manages to weave in questions about free will, the definition of “life,” corporate morality, and humans’ relationships to non-human things.
Technically, the book is about robots. At some undefined point in the future, petroleum stocks have been depleted to almost nothing and society has divided up into the tech More...
Technically, the book is about robots. At some undefined point in the future, petroleum stocks have been depleted to almost nothing and society has divided up into the tech More...
Mar 26, 2011
Pikachu
rated it:
It's the future. Petrol is rare and super-expensive, making travel impossible, so most people congregate in large, city-like districts that are divided between regular people and the technocrats. The streets aren't safe, either. Marauders rob the wealthy of their hi-tech gadgets to sell on the black market to people trying to win the technological arms race. Almost everything is automated; people rely on robots for everything. The Bells are an ordinary middle class family in this world, and thei
More...
Aug 23, 2010
Patrice
rated it:
GENRE: Fiction, science-fiction, adventure.
SUMMARY: It's a time when the upper-class Technocrats are separated from the Professionals and others. It's a time when most people have robots to help them in their day-to-day lives, though what kind of robot you have separates you from the Technocrats. A new sort of robot, EGR3, has been created. EGR3, later deemed Eager by his adoptive family, started life as a blank slate, much like humans do. What knowledge he has he learned, and he can More...
SUMMARY: It's a time when the upper-class Technocrats are separated from the Professionals and others. It's a time when most people have robots to help them in their day-to-day lives, though what kind of robot you have separates you from the Technocrats. A new sort of robot, EGR3, has been created. EGR3, later deemed Eager by his adoptive family, started life as a blank slate, much like humans do. What knowledge he has he learned, and he can More...
Sep 08, 2010
Annette
rated it: 
It's the end of the 21st century. Technocrats rule, and robots take care of humans' every need. Your house watches you, knows your secrets, and talks to you. And your closest friend can be -- a machine?
Gavin Bell and his teenage sister, Fleur, live in a middle-class family. Their much loved, old-fashioned robot Grumps is running down and can't be repaired, so a brand-new experimental robot arrives to help Grumps out. EGR3, known as Eager, learns from his experiences, as a child More...
Gavin Bell and his teenage sister, Fleur, live in a middle-class family. Their much loved, old-fashioned robot Grumps is running down and can't be repaired, so a brand-new experimental robot arrives to help Grumps out. EGR3, known as Eager, learns from his experiences, as a child More...
Jan 19, 2010
Max
rated it:
I loved this book because the Bell family is a nice, easily paced family, and then comes eager. Anyone can like this book because it is boring and quiet in some parts then crazy and violent in others. After you read this book you think wow: our future will be crazy! The book can seem a little odd, but overall a good book.
Summary:
The Bells are a nice quiet family who just need a new robot because theirs is getting old and broken down. Their father meets a p More...
Summary:
The Bells are a nice quiet family who just need a new robot because theirs is getting old and broken down. Their father meets a p More...
Oct 25, 2011
Emma
rated it:
Ever wonder what it would be like to have someone be there to do your chores. Or clean the house, or help you with homework? Well, in Eager the Bell family gets exactly that. The Bells live in a futuristic world were robots make life easier. When their old robot becomes more and more inefficient, they look to find a new robot. The EGR3 or Eager,is very different then robots becasue of one thing. Eager has a free will. He learns the same way humans do. This young robot changes the Bells lives wit
More...
Feb 24, 2011
Zach
rated it:
I don't know why i picked up this book in the first place because it looked like a strange book from the cover and the first page I read. But I know not to judge a book by its cover so i started reading hoping to read something cool. I don't really think this was the best book for a kid in the 8th grade. If you absoulutly are terrible at reading then this would be a good book. this would also be a good book for kids under the age of 10. Even though this is a book that is pretty easy it does hav
More...
Jun 12, 2008
Kit
rated it:
This is that rarity, middle-grade science fiction. Eager is an experimental robot who, unlike all other robots in the world, works by learning about his environment instead of being programmed to respond in certain ways. His inventor sends him to the Bell family to learn how to be their household robot. Gavin is happy, his sister Fleur not so much - she'd rather have one of the status-symbol BDC series instead. Eventually, when things begin going wrong with the BDC robots and no one will listen
More...
Jun 05, 2008
Fanny
rated it:
Eager is set in the late twenty first century, the government is mostly run by technocrats. Technocrats working for the government get all the new technology first on account of working for the government or the near monopoly company LifeCorp. There are the bogeyman "marauders," a group of people who "trawl" who steal new technology from "technobrats;" kids of technocrats so the city scientists can find out what LifeCorp is up to and how to counteract the compan
More...
Jan 01, 2011
Hayden
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Mar 04, 2010
Edgar
rated it:
Make sure you read other peoples' reviews too know the plot. I personally loved this book. Eager is the cutest, and he is a loving and halarious robot to the Bell family. To me this is a somewhat flawless book in many ways. I only rated 4/5 because if you miss one part, you can be going like, "Oh great. I don't get anything. I have to restart the whole book! (Which means you HAVE to read the books in chronlogical order.) Other-
wise flawless in every way!
Thanks for reading!!!!!
wise flawless in every way!
Thanks for reading!!!!!
Dec 15, 2010
Bretta
rated it:
I chose to read this book for global reading challenge at school. I'm so glad I picked it because it is about a time in the future (I think) when humans have robots as servants. I really like books about the future so this was perfect for me. It's about a family that ends up with a self thinking robot instead of programmed. This leads to all sorts of interesting adventures for the family and the robot. I strongly suggest this to anyone with a vivid imagination.
Sep 28, 2011
Tabi
rated it:
A neat little story. Very original plot though, where it's in the future with thinking robots. One that is different, and is pretty much human - able to feel emotions - and then the new line of robots go screwy...and the different robot saves the day.
Hmmm...where has that happened before?
Still, I enjoyed the book, even if I don't think I'll read it again.
Hmmm...where has that happened before?
Still, I enjoyed the book, even if I don't think I'll read it again.
Apr 12, 2010
Susan
rated it:
I started this because my son's teacher is reading it to his class...and couldn't put it down (it goes quickly). I liked that the future was sort of Jetson-ish, but in a realistic way, with some current events throw in but not in a preachy way. And I liked the nod to the timelessness of philosophical questions.
Jan 14, 2012
MarinaISD
rated it: 
at the beginning this book was really cool, I loved thinking about the future and how there were these robots who knew everything and were waiting on humans. It was a cool concept. But then there were those robots that started controlling humans and taking over, and the book started to get creepy.
Jun 29, 2010
Megan
rated it:
I thought this book was great. I don't know if my 9 year old will understand it though. She is about half way done.
It is a cross between Plato's Allegory of the Cave, 1984, I Robot, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Also, I love any book where the dialogue can be read aloud with a British accent!
It is a cross between Plato's Allegory of the Cave, 1984, I Robot, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Also, I love any book where the dialogue can be read aloud with a British accent!
Oct 13, 2010
Katie
rated it:
This book is lots of fun! It takes place in the future, and there's this robot, Eager, who starts to work for this family, the Bells. It's really cool reading about all the new technology in the future.
Jul 03, 2010
Lisa
rated it:
My daughter recently read this book, and wanted me to read it. I can see why it appeals to her - charming characters and a challenging storyline. But, unlike the best of juvenile literature, I think it didn't have the complexity to appeal to adults.
May 02, 2011
Mike
rated it:
I quite like this book, but I think this isn't really Sci-Fi but Family Relationships and changed to a future setting and the main character has changed to a Robot.
Dec 26, 2011
So far so good, and getting better. This book promises to be relevant with some class warfare, economic realities, and teen friends buried in a young adult book. I am looking forward to getting in deeper.
Jun 08, 2011
Alaina
rated it:
This book was really interesting. If anyone has watched IRobot it is a lot like that but I don't want to completely give it away
Mar 29, 2011
Christina
rated it:
I had trouble putting this book down. The characters were all endearing, and I liked the way the tension gradually developed.
Oct 17, 2008
TheSaint
rated it:
Some people will read this story for the cool futuristic robot plot. I liked it more for the corporate futuristic plot. Eager (the EGR3) is a pretty advanced robot for his time, but so are the BDC4s. Except for one thing: the BDC4s start to turn on their human employers, and clearly that is against the prime directive for all robots. What to do? Gavin and his family, who are test-driving Eager, put their head together with the designer of Eager and do their best to bring down their evil creators
More...
Apr 22, 2011
Whitleigh
rated it:
Although "Eager" is a really cute book, it's not for everyone. It is set in future times when no one has cars, but everyone has personal robots! The fridge orders food when it recognizes a shortage, children go, not to school, but a place called the Learning Center, where you choose your courses daily. When I read this I thought of "The Giver" stories, because of how controlled everything was. I liked the book but I felt sort of distant because I couldn't really understand an
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 01, 2010
Cameron
rated it:
Sometimes robots have a moment when they "live" and have their own mind and feelings.
Aug 03, 2009
Emilia
rated it:
This book was okay, but a little confusing as it tries to look into the future!!!
Jul 01, 2009
Sarah Morris
rated it:
I loved how creative this book was. It si set in the future, and that was really cool.
Jul 21, 2010
Sarah
rated it:
I read this book with my 6th grade students and I loved it (so did they!).
