Brand New Boy

Praise

Almond elevates ordinary moments and experiences into extraordinary ones… Inspiring guidelines for treating newcomers; likely to leave readers thinking deep thoughts of their own.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A wide-ranging narrative voice, by turns humorous, hopeful, and triumphant, traces the friends’ attempts to help George transcend his own seemingly limited nature, while exploring impulses of imagination and creative freedom alongside classroom rigidity.
—Publishers Weekly

The story morphs from a lighthearted romp to something dreamier. . . Inevitably, the denouement is bittersweet, leaving us with a simple and sturdy answer to one of the most relevant questions of our time. What defines us as humans? This story’s answer is friendship.
—The Horn Book

A thoughtfully generous conclusion in which the kids find comfort in knowing they gave George his best possible existence.
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Arguments about the sentience of artificial life, albeit crafted for young readers, play a major role in this fun but thought-provoking novel. Young sf fans, especially readers drawn to Peter Brown’s The Wild Robot (2016), will enjoy this title.
—Booklist