was the most original MG story I have read in a long time, I loved it. The main characters are varied in their personalities, yet united in their friendship, I fell in love with each of them, And then there is the kicker, . . robots! Any kid out there who is even a little bit interested in robots MUST read this book, I was riveted by the detail and cool things Scaletta had them doing, Add to that some dinobots, cool cars, and a dash of young love, and you have the recipe for an ideal middle grade read, This one should easily be a hit with both boys and girls, I HIGHLY recommend it.
The science fair is coming up, and once again, Jim's best friend Oliver wants to build a robot, Jim is less than excited about getting stuck building the things for the robot to destroy, so when the girl next door invites him to join her project observing the lives of otters, Jim jumps on the chance.
It also doesn't hurt that Rochelle Rocky is kind of cute, To do their otter observations, the two go into an old junkyard down by the Nomicon disaster remnants and set up cameras which Jim borrowed without permission from his dad, and return home.
Meanwhile, Oliver had to pair up with Dmitri, the rough Russian kid in class, The next day, the cameras have gone AWOL and so has Dmitri, Rocky and Jim have to scrap their project, but not before they start to notice that some weird things are going on in the old Nomicon site, and when Dmitri shows up again with a strange story of getting zotted by something in the Nomicon site, Jim's curiosity is really perked.
But it isn't until several days later, after everyone has caught the robot building bug, including Jim's little sister Penny, that even further proof of something strange and sinister going on at the old Nomicon site drops in and the kids realize they need to do something about it.
I can see why several reviewers dubbed this light scifi, because with the rate technology is developing, the scenarios in this book are plausible to the point it is almost just realistic fiction.
Now, that's as far as the technology goes, As far as some of the things the kids get into and supposedly pull off without anyone getting into serious trouble or hurt, . . that stretches belief and plunks this story back in scifi, I think this is the kind of story that kids eat up, but adults are more likely to roll their eyes at in places, I felt generous giving this three, and felt it only earned,. At times I felt like I was reading a book inspired by too much time spent with rock 'em sock 'em robots and then marinated in the all too familiar "adults are idiots so kids must save the world" plot tones.
Don't get me wrong, I can geek out with the best of them, and maybe that's my problem, It's quite possible it just was not scifiy enough for me, I think I would have liked more back story to the Nomicon disaster and less of the trivial robotics competitions just so readers will have an idea of where the end battle components come from.
Oh well, we'll see how the kids respond, As long as it finds some happy reading companions I guess it fills a void in the scifi niche and serves a purpose,
Notes on content: Just a couple mild swear words, No sexual content. There is one death by electrocution and two other shockrelated injuries, Several robots are destroyed in brutal robot battles,.It takes place in Minnesota automatic win! I loved the concept of the book building robots and the teamwork getting everyone involved/friendly rivalry the characters do.
The ending was wrapped up a little too quick and neat it seemed like the problem resolution should've been more difficult, True to the Goodreads rating system, this was just okay for me, The actual plot that you read about on the inside cover doesn't begin until you are halfway through the book, and only a few events leading up to it even have much relevance in the long run.
I feel like this title is two seperate books mashed together the kids who build robots for the science fairand then the kids who find out there are robots in the junkyard, and neither one does a very good job resolving their plotline.
The characters didn't seem very believable to me a lot of their actions didn't match up with what the author describes them as, I really liked them initially is the disappointing part for me, I do like that this book while definitely geared towards boys' adventure addresses middle school crushes but not overtly so, It still exists in there,
I guess I went into it with really high hopes and it let me down, The thing I love about reading books by Kurtis Scaletta who you should know is a friend of mine, is that they zap me back in time to when it seemed my only responsibility and the only thing I wanted to do was read the book in my hand.
His books make me read while eating, read while “watching” TV, and read way late into the night so I can find out what happens,
Today his latest The Winter of the Robots is to blame for my advanced tiredness, I even knew what was going to happen and there I was at midnight vowing just one more page, one more page, one more page until I was done.
It was worth it. sitelinkRead more. I am now a big fan of Kurtis Scaletta!
I love the kids who populate the story: smart, flexible, a little goofy, lovable, mistakemaking, and goodhearted.
Mix in reallife parents, robots, a deserted junkyard,robots, a scary man who makes astute observations, robots, great adults who treat kids like people,robots,a mysterious burntout factory, robots, smart kids, robots, supportive siblings, robots, otters, robots, Minneapolis setting, and did I mention robots and this is a sterling read.
My nephew Max will love it! Jims often feels like a second wheel as every year his best friend Oliver controls their science project.
Oliver chooses the project always a robot then designs, builds and codes it himself, This year Jim has had enough and chooses a new partner, Seventh graders Jim, Oliver, Dmitri and Rochelle aka Rocky start out as two rival science teams, but soon end up together trying to solve the towns biggest secret in an abandoned junkyard.
With the help of some family and friends the kids must deal with family issues and the strain of friendships while they design and build a robot like no other they have built before.
Several story lines are occurring throughout the book which Scaletta wraps up by the end, some better than others, This will appeal to kids in gradesespecially those who enjoy reading about computers, robots or mysteries I enjoyed the story of this book,
It was nice to see the characters figure out their surroundings, work as a team despite their differences, resolve conflicts, and learn to program robots albeit in a somewhat unrealistic fashion.
I would have liked a few more twists though the one at the very end was a nice touch, I realize it is a children's book and so isn't meant for full on adult mentality.
While many kids will find this wintry adventure story featuring robotic dinosaurs bent on guarding their junkyard territory an exciting pageturner, I felt the author was neglectful of some details how do middle school kids know how to build the kind of complex robots that are described in the competition scenes, and how appropriate is it to asktoyearolds to develop battle bots that tear each other apart, ala Big Hero.
A bit laborious to get through for me,th grade and up. I enjoyed all of the characters and the story in this book, The kids were a great team, all super smart but also pretty normal kids, Pretty normal kids up against giant dinosaur robots who have started thinking for themselves, Giant. Dinosaur. Robots. That's the books selling point right there, It also is an all around fun book about friendship, looking beyond the surface to see who people really are, and with surprising twists and turns to keep the reader engaged.
Its science fair time but Jims best friend Oliver always wants to build robots so he chooses a girl partner named Rocky, He “borrows” cameras from his fathers security business and places them in a hidden junkyard in an attempt to study otters for their project, They dont find any otters, but discover strange noises and movement coming from this allegedly deserted scientific corporation, What they uncover unites these friends as they use their combined wits to build a gigantic, warready, dinosaurlike robot in attempt to defeat the forces of evil.
The Winter of the Robots is a wonderful adventure that will keep tweens and other readers turning pages until the end,
Sharyn H, / Marathon County Public Library
sitelinkFind this book in our library catalog,
This was a pretty cool book about middle school kids building robots and then having to battle some mysterious reallife robots that are threatening the town.
I was expecting one of the characters to be a
little more sinister, but that didn't happen, Scaletta did a nice job in educating kids how robots work, and the potential for artificial intelligence in future robots,
Moves a little slower than I would like for boys, but still all in all a fun story, Janreadmin Such a fun, original story, great sense of place, suspenseful, engaging characters, and, . . lots of ROBOTSrealistic and fictional, Awesome read for MG girls and boys! I'm mid book, On pageand it's a pretty funny and interesting book, I' think it's about to heat up so I can't say much right now, Jim knows, far in advance, that his science project will be building a robot with his best friendor, more accurately, watching his best friend build their robot.
So when an opportunity for a different project presents itself monitoring otters with the girl next door, he jumps at the chance, But the otters become the least of his worries when they discover the robots that are already in that junkyard, . .
Scaletta again delivers a perfectlytuned account of preteen or earlyteen angst and drama, coupled with an engrossing plot that feels so realistic even when it's.
. . not. Another one I'll be passing to every middleschool boy I encounter and several of the girls too, .