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Characters Of The Homework Machine: A Science Fiction Adventure with a Twist



The Homework Machine is about a boy named Brenton who invents a Homework Machine. A boy named Snikwad, discovers the machine and tells the D squad. The D squad members are Kelsey, Judy, Snikwad, and Brenton. They don't want anyone to know about it. They use it so they don't have to worry about homework. They keep getting emails from a guy named R. Milner. They think someone is watching them and they don't want to get in trouble. There is a boy named Ronnie and he is suspocious when Snickwad starts getting A's because he never gets A's. He is anxious to find out how he is now getting A's.


I thought this book was a great one. It was very full of action and it's also funny. The author has written another book with the same characters. It is called Revenge of the Homework machine. I reccomend you read this book too, if you like the Homework Machine. This book doesn't have any pictures but it's a very descriptive book. All readers between the ages of 9 and 12 would enjoy this book.




Characters Of The Homework Machine



Anyway, the story unfolds with the professor heading out of town and trusting Danny to take care of his machine. Danny has been helping the professor for quite some time and was familiar with its operation, and the professor trusted him to use it in his absence. Danny is a bright kid, but one always looking for shortcuts. As the book opened he was trying to make a mechanical device to help him produce two copies of homework he would only have to write out once, so he and a friend could share the load. Naturally, soon his thoughts turned to getting the computer make short work of his homework too.


And then that night the professor returned, this time with important guests from Washington interested in potentially purchasing the machine for government use ? but dubious that it could do all that the professor had promised. So when it started printing out gibberish that evening, it was quite a serious problem. Fortunately, Danny realizes that the problem was that the thermostat had been hacked ? the bully had removed a bolt so it got stuck on a setting, which had made the switches too cold to operate properly. Once they warmed up everything worked fine again and everyone was impressed ? with the computer, and with Danny.


And when a sufficiently advanced neural net is forced to "learn" identification from tens of thousands of anal prints before being forced into full-time service doing more of the same, will we have any doubts about what led to the machine revolution? -toilet-anal-recognition/


If you can reframe the problem, you can get kids to learn. Programming the computer was entirely optional, the homework was entirely mandatory. The lessons (math problems, report on Peru) were learned, and the kids did not mind doing so, because they thought they could game the system.


J also felt very connected to one of the characters because the two had a great deal in common. With four very distinct personalities, it is probable that a reader will feel a certain bond or kinship with an individual character.


For middle-graders, I write the baseball card adventure series, about a boy who has the power to travel through time using a baseball card like a time machine. He goes on adventures with players like Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, and others.


Recorded Books (RecordedBooks) Dan Gutman, the prolific author of over 60 popular books for children and young adults, vividly imagines what is surely every put-upon school kid s dream: a machine that does homework for them--error free!When four unlikely friends become dependent on this marvelous device, they ll soon learn that cheating always has its consequences--including legal trouble. No matter what happens, their best bet is to stick together. A dramatic and thought-provoking story with a strong message about honesty. --School Library Journal, starred review n.d., Recorded Books, Unabridged Cassette - Library Edition; 98691, $33.75. (PUBLISHER: Recorded Books Three cassettes 3.25 hrs. Library Ed. $33.75 Three CDs $46.75., PUBLISHED: 2007 (orig. 2006))


Jessie Grearson (AudioFile) Four youngsters become unlikely friends when they convene at brainy Brenton's to use his invention--a dream machine that does homework flawlessly, and in their individual handwriting. Though Sam initially thinks Brenton's a dork, and Kelsey and Judy worry about being seen with a nerd and a wisecracking boy, the four soon bond over their secret, one that eventually involves them with the law. Listeners must piece together the story from multiple viewpoints and a kaleidoscope of individual narrations--short excerpts from police interviews of students, teachers, and parents. The production is engaging and particularly effective in audio format, once listeners figure out the story's organizing principle. The variety of characters' voices presenting these changing points of view makes this an especially enjoyable audiobook. J.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine Unabridged. 2007 (orig. 2006), Recorded Books, Three cassettes, 3.25 hrs., Library Ed., $33.75, Three CDs, $46.75. Ages 8 up. (PUBLISHER: Recorded Books Three cassettes 3.25 hrs. Library Ed. $33.75 Three CDs $46.75., PUBLISHED: 2007 (orig. 2006))


Carolyn Phelan (Booklist) In a novel about a boy clever enough to make his computer do his homework for him, Gutman delivers a fresh take on an idea as old as Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine (1958). The nontraditional narrative unfolds through the words of a large cast of characters, from a teacher to the police chief to the students in a fifth-grade class. Each chapter is a series of first-person entries, from a single line to a page in length, focusing primarily on four very different students who are assigned to the same group in school. Although they are not friends at the beginning of the book, they form an alliance of convenience that grows into something more after the temptation of a homework machine draws them together. A vivid subplot involves Sam, whose father is sent to war in the Middle East. This fast-paced, entertaining book has something for everyone: convincing characters deftly portrayed through their own words; points of discussion on ethics and student computer use; and every child's dream machine. Booktalkers will find this a natural, particularly for those hard-to-tempt readers whose preferred method of computer disposal involves a catapult and the Grand Canyon. Category: Books for Middle Readers--Fiction. 2006, Simon & Schuster, $15.95. Gr. 4-6. Starred Review (PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (New York:), PUBLISHED: 2006.)


Susie Wilde (Children's Literature) Humorous writer Don Gutman s newest has an odd cast of characters thrown together by a curious invention. Boy genius Renton Dagamgatochi invents a homework machine then also builds an unlikely friendship with three classmates. There is a girl with a type-A personality, another who is an uninvolved student, and a cool guy. Each has a reason to want the relief a homework machine brings; all have their own set of complexities. Short chapters of alternating voices tell the story, which is funny in some places, but is not without intense and sometimes sad moments. This is another engaging book by Dan Gutman. 2006, Simon and Schuster, $15.95. Ages 7 to 10. (PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (New York:), PUBLISHED: 2006.)


Valerie O. Patterson (Children's Literature) Four fifth grade students form an unlikely friendship while trying to protect a secret homework machine, codenamed Belch, which does their homework for them. Sam is the class clown and Kelsey is an underachiever, while Judy is in the gifted and talented program, and Brenton is, simply, a genius and the inventor of Belch. When their teacher, Miss Rasmussen, seats the four of them together as D Squad, Sam and Kelsey's homework grades rise dramatically, thanks to the homework machine. Miss Rasmussen at first ascribes the children's improvement to her teaching skills. Her suspicions are aroused, however, and she gives a pop quiz, which dramatically shows that Sam and Kelsey, and even Judy's grades, don't measure up to the homework perfection. Together the four friends finally destroy Belch to try to avoid being in trouble. In a satisfying end, Sam, who learned how to play chess from his dad before his dad was killed in Iraq, beats Brenton at a chess game. Told in various first person narratives in the format of police interviews, the story unfolds in an engaging way and makes the reader want to cheer on the four unlikely friends, even as they wrestle with ethics and honesty. 2006, Simon &Schuster Books for Young Readers, $15.95. Ages 8 to 12. (PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (New York:), PUBLISHED: 2006.)


Kirkus (Kirkus) When fifth-graders Judy, Sam and Kelsey discover their classmate Brenton Damagatchi's homework machine, they think they are on to a good thing and begin to visit him regularly after school. Alphabetically seated at the same table, the brilliant Asian-American computer geek, hardworking, high-achieving African-American girl, troubled army brat and ditzy girl with pink hair would seem to have nothing in common. (They would also seem to be stereotypes, but young readers won't mind.) But they share an aversion to the time-consuming grind of after-school work. Their use of the machine doesn't lead to learning-as a surprise spring quiz demonstrates-but it does lead to new friendships and new interests. The events of their year are told chronologically in individual depositions to the police. In spite of the numerous voices, the story is easy to follow, and the change in Sam, especially, is clear, as he discovers talents beyond coolness thanks to a new interest in chess. Middle-grade readers may find one part of this story upsettingly realistic and the clearly stated moral not what they had hoped to hear, but the generally humorous approach will make the lesson go down easily. 2006, Simon & Schuster, 160p, $15.95. Category: Fiction. Ages 8 to 11. 2006 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved. (PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (New York:), PUBLISHED: 2006.) 2ff7e9595c


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