 | Runaway robot Author: Cottrell Boyce, Frank | |
| Price: $7.37 | ||
Summary:
When Alfie goes to Airport Lost Property, he finds more than he bargained for. A lot more. Because there's a giant robot called Eric hidden away on the shelves. Eric has lost one leg and half his memory. He's super strong, but super clumsy. He's convinced that he's the latest technology, when he's actually nearly one hundred year's old and ready for the scrap heap. Can Alfie find a way to save Eric from destruction -- before Eric destroys everything around him?
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (08/15/23)
Booklist (+) (12/01/23)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 08/08/2023 *Starred Review* Twelve-year-old Alfie’s decision to “swerve” both regular school and the Limb Lab where he’s learning to use Lefty, his new bionic right hand, leads to a string of “controversial” incidents (as he puts it) after he meets a large but partially dismantled robot in an airport’s cavernous Lost Property department. Eric, the robot, is more manservant than menace, and no sooner do the two escape than Alfie suddenly finds himself fighting to keep the peaceable but scary hulk from being captured and crushed in the name of public safety. Alfie gets unexpected help from fellow Limb Lab patients: notably, fierce and hostile Shatila “Shatter” Mars, a young Bosnian whose foot was blown off by a mine. As it turns out, Eric has a tragic past—but then, so does Alfie, and as his traumatic amnesia begins to fade in fits and starts, readers will realize that Cottrell-Boyce has been telling two stories all along: one a boy-meets-robot romp, the other a wrenching tale involving an accident that left a big brother with both physical and psychological injuries. With exquisite legerdemain, the author brings plots and themes together in a suspenseful, buoyant climax that leaves the siblings reunited and Eric reassembled. Lenton’s sparse but expressive illustrations capture the warm bond that develops between the dark-skinned narrator and his well-armored mechanical friend. - Copyright 2023 Booklist.
