The Winter of the Robots

Jim and his friend Oliver have done a science project together ever since they were in school, but this year Jim is tired of never being able to actually build a robot. He decides to partner with his crush, Rocky. They do a project on otters using Jim’s father’s security cameras without permission. But when Jim discovers the cameras are missing, along with Oliver’s new partner, Dmitri, Jim begins to suspect a felony. Dmitri turns up in a laundromat, heavily frostbitten, and with no security cameras. But he tells Jim, Oliver, and Rocky about a three-foot-tall dinosaur robot he saw that tasered him and prevented him from taking away the cameras. With the Science Fair and the Robot Contest imminent, Jim must act fast to get rid of the menace.

My favorite part of this book was when Jim and his sister were working or playing together. I thought it was fun how Penny helped Jim, even when her help wasn’t always the best, and how Jim helped Penny. It was obvious they loved each other, which is hard to find in these types of books. I think there is an opening for another book in the series, although it is a great stand-alone book too. The characters were three-dimensional, not just flat.