Henry and the Incredibly Incorrigible, Inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human

by Lynn Messina

Henry Jacobson, a robot in the 13th upgrade, can’t process the data. Sure, humans can follow simple instructions to sweep floors and do other menial tasks that robots don’t want to do, but they can’t do anything complicated. Humans are just simple gadgets invented to make the lives of robots easier.

Then his dad’s boss gives them a HueManTech ETC-420- GX-2 and Henry’s life is turned upside down. This human unit is like no other. It can read, play video games and, it seems to Henry, think for itself. In fact, the more time Henry spends with the ETC, the more the gadget seems less like a human unit and more like a full-fledged robot with thoughts and feelings.

But that’s not possible. Is it? And if the ETC really is as smart as it seems, Henry can’t help but wonder: Is the human just the next-generation technology or a secret government weapon that will ultimately destroy them all?

Genres: Science Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult

176 pages, Paperback

First published December 6, 2012

About the author

Lynn Messina is author of more than a dozen novels, including the best-selling Fashionistas, which has been translated into sixteen languages, and a series of Regency romance novels. Her essays have appeared in Self, American Baby and the New York Times Modern Love column. She lives in New York City with her sons.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry Jacobson lives in Sodium Falls with his mother, Jane - manager of the Shine Bar - and father, Jacob Jacobson, head of the Upgrade Processing Department. He's recently had his thirteenth upgrade, know to be the most difficult, and a virus that wasn't fully eradicated has given him a debilitating tick that forces him to shut down all his apps and programs, resulting in failed exams and humiliation for Henry. He works part-time at his mother's salon, giving precise instructions to the human unit and doing the finer tasks it can't handle (which is most of them). His mother's CRZ78BX-22 Drudgery unit is a particularly inconvenient model from HueMaTech, for an appliance, and on this day it goes Berserko and smashes mirrors with a broom while garbling its last instructions.

Henry's mother takes care of the rampaging appliance with all the self-assurance of her top-of-the-line managerial model (the Zolot 5.0). When they get home, Henry's eager to share the story with his father, only to find that Jacob has company: his boss, Marcus Erickson, who asks the family to test-drive a new model human unit, the ETC-420-GX-2, which comes with several outfits, fuel and an instruction manual. It will sleep in the box it comes in. Henry is excited; they've never had a human in their house before, and he's looking forward to having help with his chores. But his first meeting with the ETC-420-GX-2 model leaves him worried and certain that they're in danger of it going Berserko. It doesn't speak like a normal human appliance - it keeps saying "hay" for starters, and it somehow has the ability to make up words. It doesn't want to sleep in its box, but flattened it and created a pillow for its head. Something's definitely not right with it, but Henry's parents find its usefulness and ability to understand instructions highly convenient.

When Jane takes the human unit to the Shine Bar to attract her customers back after they were scared off by the berserko human, it proves to draw a huge crowd, as well as a journalist. Henry's jealous that it gets to do things at the salon that Jane's never allowed him to do, but the robot and the human later bond over comic books. Soon they're best friends, and Henry comes to accept that not only is "E", as he calls him, a super-advanced human, but he also comes to see him as a living creature rather than an appliance. Now his parents are concerned that Henry thinks of the human as a "he" instead of an "it", and his mother especially starts paying attention to the fear-mongering from the media about the new-and-improved ETC model being a secret weapon of destruction, a military project. The human can withstand water, and seems capable of so much more than any other human appliance.

With the threat of compaction hanging over E's head, Henry escapes with him and goes with E to the capital, where E plans to break into the Mainframe and discover once and for all why he was created. What they learn though is something even more shocking than they could have imagined, and will change the way Henry sees his world forever.

The concept of turning the human-robot dichotomy on its head was an engaging one and drew me to this book. We have a real fascination with the idea of creating robots and androids, and of them having a mind of their own, feelings and a soul. Part of me has often wondered whether this is a primarily masculine preoccupation - in the beginning at least - engendered by men's inability to physically create life in the same way women can, and a possible deep-seated, subconscious envy over that fact. That if they can create a robot that has life and a soul, they will have achieved everything, conquered all and be like women who, if you look at it stripped of all other mythology but the essential, are godlike in this ability, regardless of the role men play.

Interestingly though, the Japanese - who will probably be the first to create a real, useful, everyday robot - have no such concept. They see the robot as entirely manmade, without feelings and a soul, and can't comprehend the idea that a robot could attain one in any way. So it's definitely a cultural thing as well. Either way, it's a fascinating thing to me, and the moral and ethical as well as cultural and ideological questions raised by the concept of robots and androids, make robot stories very interesting to me. This one was no exception.

While it did take me a while to get into it because of the made-up technical language and the world-building, it was a highly readable story on many levels. You can read this novel as an action-adventure story, the classic kind involving children and corrupt adults and a tearing-away of innocence. You can read it as a literal allegory, a work of irony as everything is turned upside-down: here humans are drudges, morons barely capable of opening a door without help or precise instructions. Made rather than born, they're designed for a purpose and the idea of them being in possession of feeling or an advanced thought-process is alien to all robot-kind. By spinning the robot-human relationship around so that robots are on top - on their own world, with their own history and evolution science - the novel shines a light ever more astutely on how humans in our world treat "lesser" beings, and how we perceive robots. It's both entertaining and thought-provoking, the best kind of book.

In fact, humour and a more serious meaning go hand-in-hand throughout, like when Henry's reading the ETC's manual and it goes through all the ways in which the unit can malfunction or be damaged, and what to do - namely, call your service provider.

In addition to sleep, your ETC-420-GX-2 requires eight to twelve MARFEL meal-pellet meals a day to maintain its energy supply. You will know when your ETC-420-GX-2's energy is low when it responds slowly to commands and makes frequent errors. In extreme cases, your ETC-420-GX-2 might cease to work entirely and will simply lay its head down on a table. To restore normal function, apply two MARFEL meal pellets immediately and count to twenty. [p.30]

Sounds like a typical teenager doesn't it? ;) But after reading all the care instructions and all the maintenance problems that come with a human unit, Henry starts to wonder, What's the point? He even starts to think along the lines of marketing gimmicks, that "the human was just a way for HueManTech to sell junk to gullible customers."

The robots on the planet of Ferrous might see humans as just an appliance, but they have a complex and comprehensive understanding of evolution, hierarchy and the ethics attached.

The Use Chain described the machine hierarchy on Ferrous. Machines at the top of the evolutionary ladder, such as robots, were free to use the machines below them on the ladder in any manner they saw fit. Consolis, for example, a dependent mineralizer that grew in open fields, was harvested, treated and loaded with software to be used as video game consoles. Sedanmobiles, which roamed the Vast Open Space of the Very Far West, were caught and domesticated to be use as cars like his dad's Esperzo or his mom's Ergmenty.

Some robots argued that it was wrong for any machine, including robots, to use another machine. They believed all sedanmobiles should be set free and all consolis left alone to grow wild. They were even against the domestication of small machines as household pets, even though those machines were protected and treated kindly.

Anti-Use-Chainers argued that the invention of human technology made the need for machine exploitation unnecessary, since humans were created specifically to do the jobs robots didn't want to do. If humans could fulfill a function, then there was no reason for robots to exploit their fellow machines on Ferrous. [p.37]

But as Henry knows, humans aren't good for very much. They mind coal, the energy source for robots, or operate elevators. "But they'd never be as efficient as a calculator."

E is different. E can think for himself. He can invent words, something robots are incapable of doing - though he teaches, or encourages, Henry to learn how. It takes Henry time to overcome his suspicion that E is dangerous, but after that they become best friends. And finally, Henry understands the difference, what makes E both unique and dangerous: his imagination.

That was it, Henry realized: E had an imagination. By picturing data that didn't exist, he could produce solutions that weren't based on fact. Henry could not. His algorithms followed logic protocols, so the only solutions he could produce were logical ones. But with the ability to go beyond the limits of logic, E could take processing to new heights.

And just then, Henry got it. Finally, he got why his mother and the newsbot and all of Sodium Falls were so worried. Yes, E was different from other human units. Yes, he could process complex commands or reasonate complicated problems or even store huge amounts of data on his cortextinator. But that wasn't what had their worry meters set to MASSIVELY WORRIED. No, it was the fact that Henry [sic] could do anything in the world. He had no limitations. No boundaries. No restrictions. No restraints. No protocols. He could do whatever he wanted. Nothing was off-limits. Nothing was forbidden. His potential was endless. Given the right circumstances, E could do things Henry couldn't even begin to process. Things nobot could.

And that was terrifying. [p.118]

Little typo on the name aside, this is a very astute passage. And turning it back around again, this is why we humans agonise and worry over the possibility of robots having souls: because we can imagine it. The dark side of being a human is our endless imaginations, it's both a positive and a negative. Hence the expression "ignorance is bliss", which doesn't relate just to knowledge or experience, but to imagination as well. Fear, anxiety etc., all originates with imagination. If you can't imagine being abducted or raped or shot or losing your child etc., you'd have nothing to fear. But I don't want to get sidetracked onto the topic of fear and the human psyche, which is just as complex. Basically what Henry is getting at is that E could be a military weapon, a threat to robots, simply by existing.

And that's where the action-adventure plot comes in, which I won't tell you about because it gets pretty interesting, though not entirely unpredictable. I did feel that the memo that comes before the last chapter should have gone at the very end, for maximum impact and suspense/tension, even if it is a bit of cliched device, like that ominous last scene in a movie that shows that everything's not alright, even though the main characters think it is and have finally relaxed. Like the last shot in Jurassic Park, or countless horror films. Either way, it does imply that there could be a sequel coming, which I'd love to read.

Messina does some impressive and detailed world-building here, and created a believable robot society and a robot hero who manages to be relatable and familiar as a thirteen-year-old human boy, while still retaining all his robot characteristics, making for a main character who is both unique and familiar. It's a very nicely constructed balance, especially as robot society looks a lot like ours. Interestingly, it was the idea of wild automobiles roaming free until they're caught and tamed for domestic use, for example, that had my imagination spinning rather frantically. In fact, the whole concept of machines evolving and all was tricky to get my head around, purely because I like all humans have been conditioned to view toasters, for example, as inanimate objects with a specific function and a limited lifespan, not as a pet.

I could clearly see this as a movie, while I was reading it - especially one of those Pixar or Dreamworks computer-animated films that are so wonderful, often thought-provoking and entertaining at the same time. This novel would be ideal for adaptation.

My thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book.

Check out the fun book trailer, if you have a moment.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every year I swear to myself that I'll review at least one self-published book written for kids. And every year I manage to do it, but only after sifting through countless manuscripts. The process is as close as I ever come to living the swanky life of an unpaid publishing company intern. Your slush piles ain't got nothin' on my slush piles. Why do I do it? Because every once in a great while I hit gold. Pure, uncut, rarified gold, my friend. I find a book that really is remarkable. Really is worth reading. Finding a picture book that falls into that category is hard enough. Chapter books for middle grade readers can be even trickier. The last time it happened was back in 2008 when I reviewed B.B. Wurge's Billy and the Birdfrogs. Now at the tail end of 2012 I find the remarkable, hilarious, exciting, and downright diamond-in-the-rough worthy Henry and the Incredibly Incorrigible, Inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human. A smart little novel with a catchy hook I've not seen in a book for kids before, hand this one to the next kid who comes you whining that their teacher told them to read something "science fiction". They'll moan no more, guaranteed.

They say the 13th upgrade is the hardest. Insufficient comfort for a robot like Henry, though. Because of a bug in his system Henry just can't keep up with the other kids in his class. Things seem pretty gloomy until good news arrives. Henry's dad has just received a fantastic new appliance. It's the HueManTech ETC-420- GX-2, a top of the line human meant to do menial tasks around the home. Trouble is, the human's good. Too good. And the more time Henry spends with it, the more he comes to suspect that this human might be so smart it could be used as a weapon by the government itself. What's a kid to do when his best friend's an appliance? Save the day, of course.

The basic premise that robots are the productive members of society and humans merely their appliances is a joke that by all rights should get old fast. What's remarkable is that not only does Messina pull it off, she turns it into world building. Slowly you begin to envision the fields where wild consoles are harvested and turned into video games. Where prisons are kept at ridiculously high temperatures to keep rogue robots in check. Where fire isn't a concern but water can be death itself. To make the idea of robots human and humans robots, Messina had to be extraordinarily clear from page one onward about where Henry lived and what his world was like. At the same time, she sets him in a space that's familiar to many a kid reader. What child can't relate to being called on in class and unable to conjure up the correct answer at a moment's notice? That's the sly trick of the novel. It couches the strange in the familiar and ends up the stronger for it.

If the child reader is anything like myself then they'll begin the book by trying to figure out if this is an entirely alternate reality, or if it's some kind of post-apocalyptic world where robots have taken over and humanity has long since been forgotten. I kept wavering between the two possibilities for the better part of the book. This feeling was fed into by little hints Messina posed from time to time. For example, at one point E asks Henry where original ideas come from if robots are programmed to replicate only the same ideas over and over again. Henry finds this to be an impossible paradox, suggesting perhaps that robots aren't the be all and end all. Later it becomes clear that there may be a conspiracy surrounding the creation of humans in the first place. I won't ruin for you whether one theory or another was correct. Regardless, it satisfies sufficiently.

There are some distinct horrorific elements to the tale, but they're told as matter-of-factly as if this were everyday fare. Humans that fail in their programming are sent to be compacted, easy peasy. It sort of has a slow creeping horror when you hear that. And really it isn't until E is on the precipice of his own compaction that it's drilled home to the reader. I had visions of the song "Worthless" from The Brave Little Toaster as all this happened. Or maybe Soylent Green. The funny thing is that though Messina ratchets up the tension, you don't get a clear sense of the bloody process involved. And that is a-okay with me.

Alas, due to the number of times the book repeats the human's official name of HueManTech ETC-420- GX-2, I'm afraid this won't exactly be a readaloud, unless the reader is willing to shorten the little human's name "E" or "ETC" for the bulk of the book. Aside from that it's a pretty compact, smart bit of a novel. The kind of book that'll make kids question the ease with which they treat their own iPads, iPods, and other handy dandy devices like things without feelings. A great discussion topic would be a thought about a next generation tablet so smart it has opinions of its own. Hey, man. Stranger things could happen. Just read this book if you don't believe me.

For ages 9-12.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://bookreviewsbyme2.wordpress.com...

First off, this book has a whopping long, intense title. But don't let the title discourage your young reader (or yourself) because the story itself is an easy and immensely enjoyable read.

This story follows Henry, a young robot who's parents acquire a human to help them out around the house/at work. The human is about Henry's age (13) and while Henry's parents believe that the human is just "a machine" Henry knows that there is more to it than that. The reader pursues Henry as he faces the troubles that most young boys face- being teased at school, struggling with schoolwork, being unable to relate to parents, and meeting new friends.

This story is incredibly fascinating, even to someone who isn't a young reader. The author takes the world we know, humans living their lives with robots as machines, and flips it upside down. In this story the robots are living their lives and the humans are the machines, manufactured in a factory to aid the robots with their daily lives. While that is interesting in itself, the author did such a fantastic job of creating the world in this story that this book is a gem to read. As I was reading I found myself thinking, "that is so clever" as I read a certain part of the story. When Henry is reading the owners manual for his human I found myself laughing out loud and realizing that the author truly put a lot of thought into this story.

The characters in this story are wonderful. While the majority of the characters are robots, they have human traits, making them easy to relate to and understand. I found Henry to be a lovable main character. He acted in a way that many 13 year old boys will be able to relate to and I found myself loving his emotions. It's easy to get caught up in his excitement when he finds out that his family is getting a human or when he finds out that his father met his idol! Henry's emotions and reactions felt real, making him a fantastic main character.

The writing in this story was strikingly enjoyable to read. The author places subtle humor throughout the entire story, in a way that even the adult reader will enjoy picking it out of the pages. The author also seems to have writing for a broad audience mastered. The young reader (ages 7-13, roughly) will enjoy reading this story, or having it read to them, yet this book is so masterful in its ideas and humor that the majority of adults would be able to enjoy and appreciate this book.

I'm extremely glad that I read this book; it was enjoyable and humorous in a way that I haven't encountered in a long time. I will definitely be recommending this book to any young (or young at heart) people that I know, especially if they have an interest in robots or humor. 5 stars from me.

I received this book for review purposes via NetGalley.

[Katy Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

At the time of writing, this has no other Amazon reviews. I'm surprised, as this is a highly enjoyable, clever and very funny children's book, with robots and humans switching roles to play master and servant.

I can only imagine that the title might put readers off, and if I'm honest, I would have chosen somehow a little more pithy myself. And a slightly more colourful cover (though I do like the style of illustration that continues on each chapter page).

So why should you and your 7-12 year old give this a go? Well. If they like robots, it's a winner. In a world of robots, in the town of Sodium Falls, Henry is a bit of an oddball - damaged by a virus he's not as fast-processing as his classmates. And he's on his "thirteenth upgrade", a time when "you finally had all your standard apps but not the skills to fully control them". Sound familiar?

Henry lives at 27 Disk Drive (tee hee) with his father, head of the Upgrade Processing Department and mother, a managerial model-bot and owner of the Shine Bar. The fun begins when they agree to take on a new HueMan helper (after the last rampaged through the beauty shop with various cleaning items). Henry is thrilled - everyone else has one. But from the moment it arrives, Henry notices his human seems much more capable and self-aware than any human he's ever heard of. It can read, argue, make up words. Is it... Thinking?

It's a funny and witty topsy-turvy tale. Kids will love pointing out the wordplay. There's lots of smirks for adults too. I loved the human's instruction manual (complete with illustrations). The 'cerebral cortexinator' for example, "if worked too hard develops a 'headache'". For every problem (a leaking nose, waste disposal issues, a bot must "contact service provider". Loved it.

There's a conspiracy plot that develops when Henry and his human (whom he calls E) discover that E may have been created for nefarious reasons, and they go off in search of answers. This is the weaker part for me. I was enjoying the scenario and puns too much.

It's only around 150 pages altogether and could be a real winner with the target market.

Review of a Netgalley advance copy.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A world of robots, where humans are the "invention"? Sign me up.

This book isn't about how robots took over the world; and there is no dystrophy society of humans trying to regain their power. Instead this is a world where robots are the citizens, and one inventive robot came up with the great appliance: Humans!

Despite it being a book intended for a younger audience, this is a wonderful short read. Lynn has a way of making you feel a part of the story by including news-clippings, owners manuals, and other such things as part of the narrative. I love her unique play with words, and how she reinvents our world to fit the characters. It is even better because while it is as if humans and robots have switched roles, in personality and mindset they have not.

A wonderful read for the young, that is still entertaining for everyone else.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

What would the world be like if robots dominated and humans were an experimental, often buggy technology--only good for menial tasks and incapable of higher thinking? Just ask Henry. He's an average bot going through his tumultuous 13th upgrade. One day a human goes berserko in his mother's shop and they get an experimental replacement. This new human is unlike any he's seen before. He can complete complex tasks without step-by-step instructions and he even likes to play video games and read comic books! Henry knows that humans aren't like robots, but he can't help feeling like this new human is more than just an appliance. Will Henry be willing to risk it all when his new friend needs him to break into the motherboard and fight off the G-bots so they find out how this inconveniently smart human came to be?

I absolutely love the sharp wit of this novel and its extended comparisons between humans and robots. This isn't a world after a robot uprising--this is a world where robots were here first and humans are a recent invention. The way Messina draws comparisons between robots and humans throughout the novel is clever and insightful. Much like how human teenagers go through changes that make them emotionally unstable, robots in this world go through a series of upgrades and the 13th is known to be particularly difficult to integrate. Henry has a sort of virus that can make processing information at school difficult for him in a clear analogy to human learning differences. The way this is described with such immediacy will ring true with many students. Little touches such as the descriptions in the human instruction manual kept me chuckling throughout, but there's also a real emotional core to the novel and a sense of adventure as they go off to break into the motherboard.

The secondary characters are a bit flat and the plot fairly standard, much like the video games that Henry loves playing.

I'd give this to fans of robots, humor, and video games. The action never gets too intense--the humor and robot perspective keep it pretty light--and there's no romance. I'd say it's fine for 3rd grade and up.

Read more of my reviews at http://auldschoollibrarian.blogspot.com/

[Bruce Gargoyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review at http://thebookshelfgargoyle.wordpress...

I received a digital copy of this book for review from the publisher via Netgalley.

Ten Second Synopsis:
In a world of bots, Henry is a thirteenth upgrader with a lot to prove. When he meets E, a seemingly superpowered human unit, his stress levels are about to ratchet up a notch...

This book is a very clever (and welcome!) addition to the middle grade comic genre. Really, it's managing to fill a niche - all the problems of a young bot wanting to grow up are there, but they're cased in a sci-fi shell. So this will have great appeal to those kids who love their tech and sci fi.

There’s also a lot to appreciate here for older readers, with lots of little wry observations of human nature, reflected back through robot society. Henry is a very believable bot, with all the flaws and worries of any thirteen year old being and human unit E is laid back, quietly confident and a joy to read about. The book is great fun with heaps of funny situations and some fantastic one-liners.

To top all of that though, there’s also plenty of action and suspense. At one point, Henry and E break into a government agency and get chased by the authorities, get captured, uncover some shocking secrets and use their wits and wiles to save themselves from danger. I was really worried for the lads during this part as there were some real challenges for them both to surmount.

If you’ve got young male readers around your dwelling, this is definitely a book you should add to your collection. It will be thoroughly enjoyed by confident independent readers, but if you have to read it aloud to less confident readers, there is plenty here for grown ups to enjoy along with their mini-fleshling.


Highly recommended for all human units.

[Brittney Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Henry and the Incredibly Incorrigible, Inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human is written by L.A. Messina. This book follows Henry, a robot who has just had his 13th update, and the friendship he develops with his human, E. Humans in this world are considered appliances for the robots, but E is much more than that. Henry develops a friendship with E that leads to an adventure of the two friends trying to figure out what makes E so different from the other humans.

This story is extremely well written and fun to read. Messina creates great characters that are identifiable even though they are not humans. Henry feels like every other 13 year old feels, like he’s never good enough and that he’s an outsider. His parents certainly don’t give the confidence he needs. But that all changes when he makes a friend in E. Henry starts their relationship off being very suspicious of E, but once he gets past that he finds the type of friendship that he’s been craving.

Messina explores themes of friendship well in this book. Neither Henry nor E are typical, but they find the good in each other. They appreciate what the other brings to the table. That’s something that not just young adults should learn, but adults as well. The bond that is forged between Henry and E is heartwarming and thoughtful.

The age of reader I would recommend for this book is about the middle school age. This book would also be great for any kids interested in technology as the book is full of “tech-speak.” Plus, robots are cool no matter what age you are.

I was given a free electronic copy of this title by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Mehsi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Short review.

All in all I rated this book 2 stars, because the story at times was just boring and I was hoping it would be over. Not only that though, Henry in the beginning was highly annoying and I just wanted to smack him with a wrench (considering he is a robot), also the various codes for things just got annoying (ETC-235rs0fs and such).

What I did like was that this book turned our world upside down and made it so that we the humans are the appliances, the special things. While the robots rule the world. :)

Like I said just a bit before, I didn't like Henry at the beginning. He was mean, rude and overly jealous. I started to like him more near the middle/end of the book when he finally saw the light and saw E as a friend and not a dangerous hazard of doom and blah blah.

E (or ETC blahblah), was a wonderful character, I liked him from the start and was cheering for him. I was (after our first encounter with a human) a bit afraid he would turn out like that, but luckily E is just a normal boy who likes gaming and doesn't mind working.

Would I recommend this book? Not really. Unless you don't mind that the story gets a bit boring at times, or that Henry doesn't change until the middle/end of the book.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Henry Jacobsen is a robot in the 13th upgrade. He's trying to fit in, but every time he tries to make a calculation, he makes a lot of noise, which has gotten him the nickname "Hank Crank." He helps his mother out in her robot beauty parlor, The Shine Bar. When a human goes berserker in the store one day, Henry becomes pretty leary of these strange inventions.

One night, Henry's father's boss shows up and wants the family to test out the company's new model, the ETC-420-GX-2. When it turns out to be a boy the same basic age as Henry, will they become friends or rivals? What happens when the human starts making up words and thinking for himself (most humans are thick-headed and walk around drooling)? Could this new invention be more than Henry or his family are aware?

It's a really clever book that switches the role of humans and technology. There is a lot of funny stuff that kids should like a lot. At times it felt like a book that a kid would write, so I'm sure they'd like it as well. I felt like the story lagged in a few places, but I found Henry and his human, E, to be likeable enough characters. Imaginative and fun.

I was given a review copy of this book by Tater Tot Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to read this fun book.

[Netanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smartly written science fiction novel that's targeted to the young adult audience, but seriously appealed to this older female reader! Messina sets up a wonderful world where the roles of robots and humans are reversed - the robots are the primary, dominant species on their world, and the humans are inventions meant to make their life easier through the performance of menial labors. Messina does an epic job in building a robot world that pays attention to the little details that count - robotic diction, from everyday word usage to geography place-names, robotic theory of evolution, a school system based on system upgrades, robotic comic books and action heroes, a robot spa!

Within this well-thought out world, Messina tells the story of Henry, a 13th-upgrade robot with problems, and his human, E, who is remarkably smarter than the average "human".

I really enjoyed this story and would recommend it to most audiences. Very well done.

[Aileen Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once I started this book, I could hardly put it down. The story takes us to a world where robots are the predominate life force and humans are created to do the menial tasks robots do not want to perform. Robots have to be careful though, because sometimes the drooling zombie like humans go beserko. This is Henry's greatest fear until he gets to know his human and finds, much to his surprise, that he is quite intelligent.

The adventure that they embark on when they run away together is fraught full of the kind of danger that keeps you on the edge of your seat while reading, and the secrets they discover will amaze even the most skeptical of readers. Miss Messina has created a wonderful piece of fiction that is sure to keep both boys and girls between the ages of nine and thirteen intrigued from beginning to end.

[Marla · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great read for young adults. The concept of machines or robots being the main society in life and an inventor creating a human who is like a robot. I kept trying to think of how the roles would be switched to make this story and I couldn't come up with any. This truly is a unique and enjoyable book. It does make you think a little bit about how you treat your material things and also how new inventions can scare people, even us humans. The book also shows there is good and evil in all societies and how we can become scared of the unknown. Well done Lynn.

[Heatherly Hardin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creative, entertaining, and thought-provoking! Messina's novel set in a world run by robots who function like today's humans and served by humans who function like today's robots will fascinate young and old alike!

[Sarah Bronte Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

i will add my review later. i love it and gave it 5 stars!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for kids but also a fun read for adults that can be finished in a sitting or two. The story and characters are charming and will make you think about what it means to be human.