House of Robots

When Sammy gets a new ‘brother’, it’s a super-clever robot, designed by his mum. Unlike the other robots in their home, E (Egghead, but to Sammy, Error) can do anything – even ride a bike, but he is a great embarrassment to Sammy, who as a result is in danger of losing the few friends he has. However once E has been re-programmed he becomes super cool, and eventually Sammy realises just why his mum created that particular robot.

Patterson and Grabenstein create a funny, easily read novel, liberally aided by Juliana Neufeld’s illustrations, but beneath the crazy adventures is a story of school-bullying, of a gravely sick little sister, and a boy isolated from his peers by his family situation.