Once upon a time, the author of this book visited our school and showed us slides and told us jokes and read books to us. At the end he told us about a new book he was writing. This is that book. An interestingly different story about robots and humans. A beginners Science Fiction novel, it has friendship and peril and thought provoking ideas. It is also funny and the illustrations are fabulous!

In truth, I only picked this book up because I have a space display to do for my class bookshelf. But what a book it is! I was enthralled by the concept from the start of robot revolution, and Bass has a way of pulling you into Scrap’s story. The main characters all have distinct personalities and interact with one another marvellously. Quite frankly, good writing can make you read even a boring plot, yet nothing about this plot is boring. It was ever so easy to get lost in Bass’ story telling, to follow the trio along in their journey and enjoy discovering the world of Somewhere 513. Nearer the back end of the book, the tension is really ramped up and I was admittedly quite nervous for how our heroes would make it out. I’m delighted to realise there’ll be a second book; certainly it’s one I’m going to keep an eye out for. I’m going to have to find a different book for our class display, because I’ll be reading this one to my Year Fives as our class read instead.

I’ve said before how, like a lot of readers, I am heavily influenced as to what I choose to read by how much the cover art of a title appeals. Checking through the latest Net Galley reads, this cover jumped out at me and when I clocked it was written by Guy Bass, I knew I wanted to read it. I am, as yet unfamiliar with the author’s Stitch Head series, but the Skeleton Keys books, illustrated by Pete Williamson, must rate amongst my very favourites aimed at lower KS2 readers. Full of surreal humour, wordplay and with great characters, they were an enormous hit with my classes when I taught Year 5, and also some of my more confident readers when I moved down to Year 3. Here is the first in a brand-new series – one aimed at a slightly older audience but one written with the same love of puns and one with a wonderful trio of characters at its heart, who I defy anyone reading this not to root for in this brilliant middle grade sci-fi adventure. Our story is set in a future where humans have left planet Earth to seek out a new existence for themselves on a range of habitable planets, one of which is Somewhere 513. All is not as it was planned to be, however, as the robots sent to prepare the way have grown fond of their new home and have decided to keep it to themselves, rather than hand it over to their human masters, a decision which has led to a war in which only one robot has sided with the humans – K1-NG, better known as King. Having battled against his own kind, King is left betrayed by the people who he has saved and as a result vows never to help them again – something that shouldn’t be too hard as they have all escaped. At least that is what King believes. 10 years later, a scruffy robot is living a solitary existence on the Pile – an area of abandoned junk – where he has taken care and pride to construct himself a home in which to see out his days. Watching the other run-down robots around him, this machine reflects on how desperate he is to belong to his surroundings but his thoughts are interrupted by the sudden appearance of two figures, their faces hidden beneath their clothes, who he tells to get lost. Ignoring this instruction, the two visitors confirm to one another that the robot is the one they have been searching for, and he realises that they are human children – something that should be impossible. The girls introduce themselves as Paige and younger sister Gnat, and tell the disbelieving robot that they have been sent to find him by their mother. While Gnat is convinced that they have discovered King, Paige refuses to believe the shabby machine in front of them can be the great robot and when King won’t reveal his name to them, Gnat calls him Scrap. Soon after the girls’ arrival, their conversation is disturbed by the sudden appearance of two Hunters – robots that have been sent to find the girls and Scrap decides not to give their presence away and pretends he hasn’t seen them. After an altercation with the Hunters, the girls flee with Gnat refusing to leave Scrap behind. With Paige still refusing to believe that Scrap could possibly be King and Scrap unwilling to help the girls, what will happen as they find themselves reluctantly working together on a mission to save the last humans on Somewhere 513? Paige, Gnat and Scrap make a fantastic team. Gnat, who is several years younger than Paige, and far less worldly wise, instantly believes that Scrap and King are one and the same, while Paige judges the robot solely on the appearance of both him and the Pile where she and Gnat find him. Suddenly finding herself in charge of her sister, Paige focuses entirely on the mission on which their mother has sent them, leaving Gnat little time to act as the little girl she is. When Scrap enters their lives, he has spent 10 years hiding from his fellow robots, in the belief that there are no humans left, and he is suddenly placed in the position where his peers will not accept him because of what he has done and he does not want anything to do with the girls but his conscience won’t allow him to abandon them to the Hunters, making this a very exciting and thought-provoking adventure. The story is fast-paced and action-packed, with a great amount of jeopardy for Paige, Gnat and Scrap as they find themselves at the mercy of various enemies and somehow manage to escape time and time again only to find themselves in further hot water. Balancing the very dramatic parts of the text (and believe me there are some very dramatic parts) are the wonderful illustrations of Alessia Trunfio, which will make this hugely appealing to young readers, and the humour of Guy Bass which manifests itself in some fabulous puns and wordplay which will be very well received by any adult readers who pick this up. Perfect for confident readers in Year 4 upwards, I thoroughly enjoyed this read and am so pleased that this is the start of a new trilogy although I suspect there may be a little bit of a wait for next instalment as I couldn’t find a publishing date for it. Until then, my enormous thanks go to publisher Little Tiger Press and to Net Galley for my virtual advance read.

It is the time Something Something and humans have begun to colonise planets throughout the universe. Meet Scrap, official name K1-NG, a robot living in exile after helping humans escape during the Robot Revolution on Somewhere 513. Now, he is free to live his morose and bitter existence amongst the Piles. That is, until he is tracked down by two if the last things he ever expected to meet again … humans! Guy Bass has once again created a character who will take root in your heart and leave you wanting to know more. A fast-paced, thrilling adventure story with themes of trust, friendship and being happy in your own skin, or case, this is a wonderful novel for older MG readers.