Fuzzy by Tom Angleberger

Abstract

Reviewed by: Fuzzy by Tom Angleberger April Spisak Angleberger, Tom Fuzzy; by Tom Angleberger and Paul Dellinger. Amulet, 2016 [272p] ISBN 978-1-4197-2122-9 $14.95 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 4-6 Max knows better than to try to break any rules, because the vice principal at her school is a computer who tallies all irregularities, missed answers, and rebellious actions. Everyone believes they’re really doing better than the VP says, but no one knows for sure that the system really has gone rogue. Then Fuzzy arrives; Fuzzy is an experimental robot who can learn and grow, reprogramming himself to adjust to new scenarios, and he and Max quickly bond after Max is told to help get Fuzzy through his first few days of middle school. Fuzzy is also the one who finally spots some serious injustices in how the VP is running the school and ignoring directives from the principal. While the book will enjoy instant popularity just because of the author’s renown, it will deserve all of the attention it is sure to get. Angleberger and Dellinger hit the perfect mix of funny and contemplative, speculative and realistic. Kids certain that standardized testing is a crummy way to assess their lives, even without a computer making the score worse, will sympathize with the students. Fuzzy, who is brilliant and clumsily affable all at once, creates a further point of connection for readers who will undoubtedly relate to both his initial feelings of being daunted by middle school and his strong sense of justice. Copyright © 2016 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois