Eager
by
Helen Fox

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Read an Excerpt

Breakfasts in the Bell Household

Gavin had a sneaking feeling his father was changing the subject. They examined the dining table. "Bowls and side plates," mused Mr. Bell. "Well, that doesn't look too ominous."

The door slid open and Mrs. Bell and Fleur entered. They too stared at the table.

"Cereal and toast. That's OK," said Fleur with relief.

His mum kissed Gavin. "Morning," she murmured. "Did you sleep well?"

He wondered whether to tell her about the house screeching in his ear and decided not to. It would be just like her to go back to alarm clocks, or to volunteer to wake him herself. At least with the house he could tell it to let him snooze for ten minutes.

They joined Mr. Bell at the table.

"Dad's going to build a new factory for LifeCorp," Gavin told his sister.

"Really?" said Fleur. "Whereabouts?"

"Don't get excited," their father said. "It's on the edge of the city. I was hoping it might be somewhere exotic like Italy or Tanzania so I'd be allowed to travel."

The door opened and the butler rolled into the room, to an accompaniment of squeaks and whirrs.

"Good evening," he said in a gravelly voice.

Fleur and Gavin exchanged looks of alarm.

"Actually, Grumps . . . ," began Mr. Bell.

A ring indicated that the food lift had arrived. Mr. Bell left his sentence unfinished. The butler creaked his way toward the lift and took out a large tureen.

"Soup is served," he announced, setting down the tureen in the center of the table.

"Soup!" echoed Fleur. "For breakf--?"

"Shhh," said her mum. "You'll hurt his feelings. Thank you, Grumps."

"Tomato soup," intoned the butler. He lifted the lid. Steam wafted up and the unmistakable smell of cooked tomatoes filled the room.

The family stared in silence at the tureen. Grumps waited patiently, the lid in his hand.

"Perhaps a ladle?" said Mrs. Bell at last. "And some cereal and a yogurt for Charlotte."

"I forgot. I am most sorry." The butler replaced the lid and trundled out of the door. They heard him squeaking down the hallway.

Review

In the late 21st century, robots have taken over a lot of the menial jobs and take care of humans. There is very little gasoline to be had, so most people do not get to travel. While other struggle to get by, Technocrats live a life of luxury as they are paid highly to invent new technology. Gavin Bell lives with his mum, dad, and two sisters. They have one robot butler named Grumps whose internal clock has gone out so he doesn't know what time of day it is. Realizing that they need a new robot, Gavin's father obtains a prototype robot names EGR3. Renamed "Eager", this small robot is not like the other robots manufactured by LifeCorp because the professor who made him gave Eager free will. LifeCorp has just released the BDC4 robots to a few locations. What they didn't tell anybody was that they did something to these robots to make them seem more human-like. Unfortunately, the BDC4s start to turn on the humans that own them and some have secretly been recalled by LifeCorp. When Gavin realizes what is going on, he sends Eager in to infiltrate their ranks and find out what the BDC4s are up to. Unfortunately for Eager, he is easy to pick out and is soon discovered. What will happen to Eager when the BDC4 get a hold of him? Why are the BDC4s acting so strange? Are they a threat to the safety of humans?

Eager is a science fiction story written by Helen Fox. This book revolves around a small, very human-like robot and his human master, Gavin Bell, and their struggle to understand what is happening with the BDC4 robots. This book is intended for young readers age 9 to 12.

I love a good science fiction story. Right from the start, I knew I would enjoy Eager, which was written by Helen Fox. Eager is the coolest little robot because he is just like a newborn. The world is a wondrous place to him and he looks at everything with amazement. Is he big and shiny like the BDC4s? No. Does he compliment his master's every move? No. Is he loyal. Yes. Is he different? Yes. Is he totally cool? Oh, yes. I love Eager: the robot and the book. Helen Fox does a fantastic job of keeping the reader in the dark as to what is going on with the BDC4s. Are they really evil? Are they going to wipe out humans? Or is there just something wrong with their programming? As we become more and more technology dependent, I can easily see something like this happening in our future. The world in which Eager takes place is both good and bad for humans. I like the idea of having robots as servants, but hate the idea of not being able to travel. Still, this book is fun and very enjoyable. Kids will fall in love with the small robot and want one for themselves . . . I know I do. So, if you are looking for a great science fiction book for young readers, Eager is the one for you.

I rated this book an 8½ out of 10.