Sixth grade is tough at futuristic Vanguard Middle School, with Barbara the computerized vice principal watching a kid's every move.
Barbara assigns discipline tags for infractions like talking too loud or, worse, for displaying creativity during class, which focuses exclusively on helping students pass the endless rounds of Constant UpGrade exams. Maxine Zelaster--her pals call her Max--knows that students who fail to improve their scores are expelled. But when the Robot Integration Program (RIP) enrolls Fuzzy, the first-ever robot student, at Vanguard, Max's curiosity compels her to use precious study time to show the new, electronic kid (with dark wig and unblinking bright blue eyes) the ropes.
Fuzzy's name comes from fuzzy logic, the flexible form of reasoning that allows a computer to deal with uncertainty. He turns out to be a true friend to Max, updating his programming with a high-priority "HelpMax()" subroutine in an effort to aid her as she battles the increasingly dictatorial Barbara. This means ignoring threats posed to his own safety by a rogue hacker, and instead focusing on a real kid problem: learning how to think for yourself.
In Fuzzy, coauthors Tom Angleberger (the Origami Yoda series; Horton Halfpott) and Paul Dellinger weave computer concepts into the action, using snippets of programming code to show Fuzzy's perspective. In the climax of this exciting story, Fuzzy faces a human dilemma, choosing between right and wrong. The use of code as a storytelling device is funny, and cleverly illustrates the way a young mind processes the overwhelming input of a typical day in middle school. --Ann Shaffer, freelance writer and editor