From the boundless imagination of David Almond comes a thought-provoking question packaged in a lively illustrated chapter book: what if a robot went to school? When a new boy joins their class, everyone thinks he’s . . . odd. George doesn’t behave like other kids. He doesn’t think like other kids. But he’s great at football and snacking, and that’s what matters to Dan and Maxie and their friends, who resolve to make George feel welcome. Over time, they learn that he’s just like them in most ways, except one: George is a robot, part of an ambitious new experiment, with sinister people bent on destroying him. When George’s lab pulls him out of school, can his new friends recover him—and set him free? Told in David Almond’s signature rollicking narrative style, this poignant tale explores what it means to be human—and will inspire children to think and giggle in equal measure. Almond elevates ordinary moments and experiences into extraordinary ones… Inspiring guidelines for treating newcomers; likely to leave readers thinking deep thoughts of their own. —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A wide-ranging narrative voice, by turns humorous, hopeful, and triumphant, traces the friends’ attempts to help George transcend his own seemingly limited nature, while exploring impulses of imagination and creative freedom alongside classroom rigidity. —Publishers Weekly The story morphs from a lighthearted romp to something dreamier. . . Inevitably, the denouement is bittersweet, leaving us with a simple and sturdy answer to one of the most relevant questions of our time. What defines us as humans? This story’s answer is friendship. —The Horn Book A thoughtfully generous conclusion in which the kids find comfort in knowing they gave George his best possible existence. —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Arguments about the sentience of artificial life, albeit crafted for young readers, play a major role in this fun but thought-provoking novel. Young sf fans, especially readers drawn to Peter Brown’s The Wild Robot (2016), will enjoy this title. —Booklist David Almond is the highly acclaimed author of many award-winning novels for children, such as The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas , The Tale of Angelino Brown , Skellig , Clay , Kit’s Wilderness , War Is Over , and The Color of the Sun . His numerous awards include the Carnegie Medal and the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international prize for children’s authors. David Almond lives in England. Marta Altés was born in Barcelona and studied graphic design there before becoming an author and illustrator. Her many books include My Grandpa , I Am An Artist , and NO! Marta Altés now lives in London. 1 At the start we think he’s just another kid like us.    Of course we do. What else would we think? He turns up on a Monday morning, last week of the Easter term, in the middle of assembly. Mrs. Hoolihan’s leading it. We can see she’s excited about something or other. She’s wearing a green tweed suit and shiny black high heels, and her hair’s all dyed and curled. She keeps looking at the door at the back of the hall, like she expects it to open.    She says all the usual stuff about how terrible bullying is.    “Don’t you agree?” she asks us.    Of course we do.    “Yes, Mrs. Hoolihan! Yes, Mrs. Hoolihan!” What else would we say?    I’m sitting with Maxie Carr, like always. We’re doing that thing where we grunt everything like we’re animals or as if we don’t know what words are at all.    “E I OO I A!” we grunt.    Maxie drops his shoulders and lets his hands dangle like he’s some kind of ape.    “Yes, children,” she goes on. “We have to be kind to each other, especially those who don’t have our own good fortune, or those who have been through trouble. Aren’t I right, children?”    “Yes, Mrs. Hoolihan.”    “E I OO I A!”    She looks at the door again. Nothing. She blinks and frowns and grins and taps her finger in the air and looks at Mr. McKenna, who starts banging away at the piano. Mrs. Imani is there as well, with the little orchestra she’s put together. They saw their fiddles, squeak their recorders, smack their tambourines.    Mrs. Hoolihan spreads her arms wide.    “Now liberate your voices, children!” she calls. “Sing up! Sing up!”    She tilts her head toward the ceiling.    “Raise your voices to the heavens above!”    And off we go with the song we sing every Monday morning: “All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all.”    The little ones at the front sing high and sweet like always. Me and Maxie do that thing where we sing the words as we’re breathing in, so we sound like ghosts or like we’re about to croak: “O I I A U E U. U OR O AY EM OR.”    Some kids around us start to giggle. Our teacher, Mr. Sage, who’s sitting at the end of our row, starts to glare.    Mrs. Hoolihan wafts her arms, conducting us all. Then the door at the back s