Spare Parts (Young Readers’ Edition): The True Story of Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and an Impossible Dream by Joshua Davis

Abstract

Reviewed by: Spare Parts (Young Readers’ Edition): The True Story of Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and an Impossible Dream by Joshua Davis Wesley Jacques Davis, Joshua Spare Parts (Young Readers’ Edition): The True Story of Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and an Impossible Dream; ad. by Reyna Grande. Farrar, 2023 [160p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780374388614 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780374388621 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. 5-9 A number of paths led the respective families of Cristian, Oscar, Luis, and Lorenzo from Mexico to the United States, but the four undocumented boys faced similar adversities before and after meeting at Carl Hayden Community High School in Phoenix. A life-long tinkerer, Cristian made his way to the marine-science magnet program first. Oscar found the program after hitting a wall with JROTC, his military hopes dashed due to his undocumented status. Luis, busy working as a short-order cook, chose the program as an easy way to get high school credit. Lorenzo was entrenched in gang life when teacher and program coordinator Fredi Lajvardi convinced him to right his path. The boys unite as a team to compete in the MATE Robotics Competition, a marine robotics competition in Santa Barbara, California. Beyond the competition, a lack of funding and the nerve-racking dangers of traveling through checkpoints bring additional challenges, but the boys persevere in impressive ways, from community fundraising (and some creative use of affordable materials, such as ultra-absorbent tampons) to reviewing their presentations on the drive to soothe their nerves and properly prepare. This adaptation of Davis’ adult book of the same name shifts focus among the four boys and offers explicit statements of what each gains from these experiences, making for an accessible and relatable read for the young target audience who may be unfamiliar with the team’s 2004 victory. An afterword provides bittersweet where-are-they-now updates, where engineering careers were not guaranteed, immigration woes continue, and COVID leaves its mark, but the boys have grown into mature adults. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois