Friendroid by M.M. Vaughan (review)
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Friendroid by M.M. Vaughan
Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-4814-9065-8 $17.99
E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-4814-9067-2 $10.99
Reviewed from galleys R* Gr. 5-8
Twelve-year-old Danny Lazio tells the reader up front, before he flashes back to the story, that his best friend Eric “Slick” Young is a robot—scratch that, was a robot. [End Page 317] What follows is shared narration of their unlikely friendship as it develops over video games and computer building, then the reveal that not only is Slick a robot (which neither Slick nor Danny know), he’s a walking, talking advertisement for all things preteen from clothing to social media to music. At first, Slick just comes off as frustratingly shallow and brand-conscious—even his nickname comes from how often he mentions his favorite brand of sneakers—but as the first child model of Jeopardy Advertising’s “Canny Valley” line of androids, Slick wins Danny (and others) over with his wide-eyed honesty and earnest reflections on what it means to be a good friend. When Jeopardy Advertising determines he’s become a liability that needs to be wiped clean, can Danny find a way to save him? There’s much to discuss and enjoy here in this deeply smart, potentially unnerving, but unrelentingly funny sci-fi story.
