The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown (review)

The last time readers saw Roz (ROZZUM robot unit 7134), in Brown’s The Wild Robot (BCCB 4/16), she was being carried away by airships from the island and the animals she loved (including her adopted goose son Brightbill) to fulfill her original purpose as a helpmate for humans. Now she’s working on Hilltop Farm, and while the Shareefs are a kind family who treat her well, she longs to return to the island and her adopted son. Luckily for her, the tender-hearted Shareef children are willing to help her escape the farm, and a host of animals—an amiable skunk, a bumbling but well-intentioned ram, a sweetly gossipy whale, and a flock of streetwise pigeons—guide Roz along her journey. This sequel retains the first book’s pleasing, straightforward storytelling, as the tone moves easily from playful to somber to contemplative; the interspersed direct addresses to readers counterbalances tense moments with a cozy reassurance, and they gently nudge the audience into considering the nuances of morality. For instance, Roz bonds with the Shareefs and the animals on their farm and it is her duty to protect them, and it’s possible the son she loves is no longer on her former island home; what does she risk, whom does she leave, and who gets hurt in the process? Brown never forces these questions, and there’s plenty of adventure to be had without these emotional ponderings as Roz faces off with wolves, dodges robots ordered to apprehend her, and finally meets the woman who designed her. Fans of the first book will be happy to see Roz returned to her true wildness.