Happy Thursday and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for THE TROUBLE WITH ROBOTS by Michelle Mohrweis! I’m so excited because today I have an excerpt of the book to share with you! This book is truly amazing and I’m so excited to for you to find out more about it, PLUS enter for a chance to win a print copy!
The Trouble With Robots by Michelle Mohrweis Published on September 27, 2022 by Peachtree
Genres: Contemporary, Middle Grade, Queer
Pages: 384
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon, Instagram, TikTok
Evelyn strives for excellence. Allie couldn’t care less. Together, these polar opposites must work together if they have any hope of saving their school’s robotics program.
Eighth-graders Evelyn and Allie are in trouble. Evelyn’s constant need for perfection has blown some fuses among her robotics teammates, and she’s worried nobody’s taking the upcoming competition seriously. Allie is new to school, and she’s had a history of short-circuiting on teachers and other kids.
So when Allie is assigned to the robotics team as a last resort, all Evelyn can see is just another wrench in the works! But as Allie confronts a past stricken with grief and learns to open up, the gears click into place as she discovers that Evelyn’s teammates have a lot to offer—if only Evelyn allowed them to participate in a role that plays to their strengths.
Can Evelyn learn to let go and listen to what Allie has to say? Or will their spot in the competition go up in smoke along with their school’s robotics program and Allie’s only chance at redemption?
An excellent pick for STEAM enthusiasts, this earnestly told narrative features a dual point of view and casually explores Autistic and LGBTQ+ identities.
CHAPTER ONE
EVELYN
It was my very first robotics tournament, and everything was going wrong.
My robot lay atop the wooden table, new metal gleaming under the gym lights. The bot looked perfect. Yet when I pressed forward on the remote control, nothing happened. The robot sat unmoving. Broken.
“No. No. No, no, no,” I moaned. “Think, Evelyn. Think. You can fix this.” I jiggled the wires on the robot. I pressed the controller’s joystick forward again. Nothing.
I checked the plastic wheels, using my fingers to measure the spaces between them. They were exactly three finger widths apart. I pulled on the small metal claw, lifting it up and down. Its gears squeaked as the claw opened and closed.
The gears were perfect. The claw was perfect. Everything was perfect. I knew because I had built this robot myself. I’d been working on it since the first day of eighth grade. My school was semi year-round and started in July, so I got to spend the last two months building and perfecting it. Over two hundred pieces were perfectly in place, down to the smallest screws. There was nothing wrong with my robot.
Except, you know, the part where it wasn’t rolling.
I pushed on the controller one more time, with my eyes locked on the robot for any movement at all. Nope.
I groaned and flopped forward. My face pressed against the cool plywood of the cafeteria table, and my dark red hair settled around me like a blanket. I breathed in and out, imagining my breath scattering across the grains of wood as I tried to fight back the sick roiling in my stomach. Calm. I had to stay calm.
There was a buzz around me: a hundred other kids, high-school and middle-school teams that had working robots, ready to compete. It would be way too loud if not for the headphones I wore over my ears. They quieted everything just enough that I could still hear conversations but the chaos of the competition wasn’t so painfully loud.
I squeezed my eyes shut and listened to the murmur of voices, the clanking of metal, and muffled shouts of excitement. Almost thirty other groups, testing their robots and searching for the alliance teams they would compete along-side. I’d never join them if I couldn’t get the robot working.
“This is hopeless,” I mumbled into the table. I looked back up at the robot, staring at its boxy form. “Why aren’t you working?”
The robot did not respond.
Excerpt from The Trouble with Robots / Text copyright © 2022 by Michelle Mohrweis. Reproduced by permission from Peachtree Publishing Company Inc. All rights reserved.
About Michelle Mohrweis
Michelle Mohrweis is a STEM Educator and space enthusiast. When not writing, they can be found launching paper rockets down the middle of their street. They live with their husband and two dogs in Colorado, where they enjoy hiking and hogging all the best spots beside the heater when it gets too cold.
Week One
| 9/19/2022 | Ya Books Central | Excerpt |
| 9/19/2022 | @allyluvsbooksalatte | IG Spotlight |
| 9/20/2022 | @jael_and_jenessa_reads | Review/IG Post |
| 9/20/2022 | BookHounds YA | Excerpt/IG Post |
| 9/21/2022 | Lisa-Queen of Random | Excerpt |
| 9/21/2022 | #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog | Excerpt |
| 9/22/2022 | A Dream Within A Dream | Excerpt |
| 9/22/2022 | Kait Plus Books | Excerpt |
| 9/23/2022 | Eye-Rolling Demigod’s Book Blog | Review/IG Post |
| 9/23/2022 | GryffindorBookishNerd | IG Review |
Week Two
| 9/26/2022 | Nonbinary Knight Reads | Review/IG Post |
| 9/26/2022 | The Momma Spot | Review/IG Post |
| 9/27/2022 | Nerdophiles | Review |
| 9/27/2022 | Rajiv’s Reviews | Review/IG Post |
| 9/28/2022 | Laurenreads._ | IG Review |
| 9/28/2022 | Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting | Review |
| 9/29/2022 | @jacleomik33 | IG Review |
| 9/29/2022 | One More Exclamation | Review/IG Post |
| 9/30/2022 | Two Points of Interest | Review |
| 9/30/2022 | Two Chicks on Books | Excerpt |
Enter here for a chance to win a print copy of THE TROUBLE WITH ROBOTS by Michelle Mohrweis!
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What do you think about The Trouble With Robots? Have you added it to your tbr yet? Let me know in the comments and have a splendiferous day!
I love reading about girls who are into science, math, and engineering. I’m excited to read this, especially knowing the author’s background as a robotics teacher.
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