You may know Boot. By now he and his friends are living happily at Dr Twitchy's Emporium of Amusements. Boot has his memory chip back. He has his group of new friends and each have their own strengths and weaknesses. In fact each has a very distinct personality and at times I had to remind myself that these were robots and not people.
Noke revs up the old carousel. Noke enjoys machines but it spins out of control and Jerry loses his nose. The whole gang, including Poochy the dog, but minus Red, set off to the Testing Lab. This is the place they hope to find the new nose. The testing lab is a huge factory where robots are used to test everything from toasters to chairs. In fact a huge robot has been testing one chair for a long time. He has stood up and sat down 761578 times. Boot is sure there is more to this robot - he is not just a mindless machine. He needs to be rescued from this horrible place. And so the madcap chase begins. Boot names this new robot Rusty. They do escape the factory eventually but more disasters and chase scenes await them.
In the final scenes our group of friends need to catch up a garbage truck which contains something very valuable. They all jump into a robotic taxi - I loved this scene:
"A loud car horn pierced the city noise. A taxi screeched towards me, braking just as I stepped inside. Noke's head appeared through the front window of the cab, with Gerry in the other front seat.
'I hailed a taxi' said Noke.
'Robots are not permitted to access my services,' complained the taxi.
'Ok, I hijacked a taxi ... ' admitted Noke, waggling a finger."
"I am reporting you to the relevant authorities - ' the taxi started to complain, but Noke cut it off by turning on the radio. Loud country music blared from the speakers. It was a song about a cowboy whose horse had left him for another cowboy."
Apart from the issue of a nose for Gerry, the major issue at hand is helping Rusty - his heart is broken. Look at those words - they have two meanings. You need to read this book to discover why this is so important.
I've found it hard to talk about this book because I absolutely LOVED every page of this special reading experience. I want to stand on a mountain and shout about the story but at the same time I don't want to give too much away. I read Boot: Small Robot big adventure in May last year and it blew me away. This week I picked up the second installment and it is even better! I highly highly recommend you look for these books - today.
A wonderful read for empathy, we see the robots show determination and resilience on their journey to understand the needs and feelings of others. The high-tech world leaves us with much to discuss about how we see and treat others, and how quick we are to dismiss and discard things that aren’t perfect or broken, and how to help people in need. Miss Cleveland is Reading
Great news Boot returns in book three - due out August, 2020.
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