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The Resource How to say goodbye in Robot, Natalie Standiford

How to say goodbye in Robot, Natalie Standiford

Resource Information

The item How to say goodbye in Robot, Natalie Standiford represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Austin Public Library.
This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
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Creator

trueStandiford, Natalie

Summary: After moving to Baltimore and enrolling in a private school, high school senior Beatrice befriends a quiet loner with a troubled family history

Language: eng

Work

Publication

New York, Scholastic Press, 2009

Edition: First edition.

Extent: 276 pages

Isbn: 9780545107082

Instance

Label: How to say goodbye in Robot

Title: How to say goodbye in Robot

Statement of responsibility: Natalie Standiford

Creator

trueStandiford, Natalie

Subject

Genre

Language: eng

Summary: After moving to Baltimore and enrolling in a private school, high school senior Beatrice befriends a quiet loner with a troubled family history

Award

Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, 2009.
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2010

Review

/* Starred Review */ Gr 9 Up— Because of her father's academic career, Beatrice Szabo's family has moved multiple times, most recently from Ithaca, NY, to Baltimore. In order to protect herself from the emotional fallout caused by the constant moves and her parents' troubled relationship, she has invented a cold, emotionless persona for herself called Robot Girl. When she begins her senior year at a small private school, she enters a class where the students have known one another since kindergarten. She finds herself drawn to outcast Jonas Tate, aka Ghost Boy, who introduces her to the Night Light show, a local late-night radio show. They form an intense friendship, complicated by Jonas's obsession with his mentally disabled twin brother, whom his father had told him died in an automobile accident years before. When Jonas discovers that Matthew is actually alive and in a local institution, events gradually spiral out of control as Jonas plots to liberate him. Beatrice begins to realize that her deep love and friendship for Jonas cannot help him overcome all of his emotional difficulties. This is an honest and complex depiction of a meaningful platonic friendship and doesn't gloss over troubling issues. The minor characters, particularly the talk-show regulars, are quirky and depicted with sly humor. Teens will identify with the intense emotions of Beatrice and Jonas, the reasons they are drawn to each other, and the ups and downs of their relationship. An outstanding choice for a book discussion group.—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ --Kathleen E. Gruver (Reviewed October 1, 2009) (School Library Journal, vol 55, issue 10, p136)
By the time she's a senior, Beatrice Szabo is an expert at emotional detachment, having trained herself not to consider “the houses we lived in as my house, or the street we lived on as our street.” Her biology professor father, constantly following grant money to new positions, has now brought the family to Baltimore. Bea's former best friend—her mother—is coming unhinged, miserable about moving and her deteriorating marriage. So it comes as a surprise to Bea that at her new, small private school she forms a near-instant bond with Jonah Tate, a boy with a past so tragic his withdrawal was probably inevitable. Bea and Jonah's relationship is platonic but intense—two kids drawn to each other by joint recognition of the intelligence behind the robotic facades they wear to get through high school. Bea's darkly comic sensibility carries the story, and Standiford's minor characters—including the over-50 callers on an all-night radio show Bea and Jonah listen to faithfully—provide more humor. There's no happy ending, but that, too, will give this first novel resonance with anybody on the fringe. Ages 13–up. (Oct.) --Staff (Reviewed October 26, 2009) (Publishers Weekly, vol 256, issue 43, p59)
/* Starred Review */ Surprising everyone at their private school, a sardonic loner befriends the new girl in this unusual story of an intense platonic relationship between two misfits. Dubbed a robot by her emotionally unstable mother after she fails to manifest sufficient heartbreak over the death of their gerbil, Bea meets pale, withdrawn Jonah, maliciously called "Ghost Boy" by their peers. Almost immediately, she realizes that she has more in common with Jonah than with the catty, insular girls that surround her and begins to rely increasingly heavily on him even as she discovers more about his tragically strange past. Standiford has crafted a darkly whimsical tale filled with details that will be recognizable to teens truly existing on the fringe, complete with references to John Waters films and outsider musician Daniel Johnston. Bea's original first-person voice will draw readers in, and the unexpected plot will keep them engaged. A decidedly purposeful not-love story, this has all the makings of a cult hit with a flavor similar to Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999). (Fiction. 12 & up) (Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2009)

Awards note: A Junior Library Guild selection

http://library.link/vocab/ext/novelist/bookUI: 332765

Cataloging source: DLC

http://library.link/vocab/creatorName: Standiford, Natalie

Dewey number: [Fic]

Index: no index present

Intended audience

HL560L
Decoding demand: 96 (very high)
Semantic demand: 100 (very high)
Syntactic demand: 82 (very high)
Structure demand: 87 (very high)

Intended audience source

Lexile
Lexile

Interest level

LC call number: PZ7.S78627

LC item number: Ho 2009

Literary form: novels

http://library.link/vocab/ext/novelist/minGradeLevel

Reading level

http://library.link/vocab/resourcePreferred: True

Study program name

Accelerated Reader AR
Accelerated Reader/Renaissance Learning

http://library.link/vocab/subjectName

Friendship
Family problems
Death
Friendship
Dysfunctional families
Death
Baltimore (Md.)
Baltimore (Md.)

Target audience: adolescent

Label: How to say goodbye in Robot, Natalie Standiford

Instantiates

trueHow to say goodbye in Robot

Publication

New York, Scholastic Press, 2009

Carrier category: volume

Carrier category code

Carrier MARC source: rdacarrier

Content category: text

Content type code

Content type MARC source: rdacontent

Control code: 757290

Dimensions: 22 cm

Edition: First edition.

Extent: 276 pages

Isbn: 9780545107082

Isbn Type: (hardcover : alk. paper)

Lccn: 2009005256

Media category: unmediated

Media MARC source: rdamedia

Media type code

System control number

(Sirsi) i9780545107082
(OCoLC)311309948

Label: How to say goodbye in Robot, Natalie Standiford

Publication

New York, Scholastic Press, 2009

Carrier category: volume

Carrier category code

Carrier MARC source: rdacarrier

Content category: text

Content type code

Content type MARC source: rdacontent

Control code: 757290

Dimensions: 22 cm

Edition: First edition.

Extent: 276 pages

Isbn: 9780545107082

Isbn Type: (hardcover : alk. paper)

Lccn: 2009005256

Media category: unmediated

Media MARC source: rdamedia

Media type code

System control number

(Sirsi) i9780545107082
(OCoLC)311309948

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Reviews

Review

Gr 9 Up— Because of her father's academic career, Beatrice Szabo's family has moved multiple times, most recently from Ithaca, NY, to Baltimore. In order to protect herself from the emotional fallout caused by the constant moves and her parents' troubled relationship, she has invented a cold, emotionless persona for herself called Robot Girl. When she begins her senior year at a small private school, she enters a class where the students have known one another since kindergarten. She finds herself drawn to outcast Jonas Tate, aka Ghost Boy, who introduces her to the Night Light show, a local late-night radio show. They form an intense friendship, complicated by Jonas's obsession with his mentally disabled twin brother, whom his father had told him died in an automobile accident years before. When Jonas discovers that Matthew is actually alive and in a local institution, events gradually spiral out of control as Jonas plots to liberate him. Beatrice begins to realize that her deep love and friendship for Jonas cannot help him overcome all of his emotional difficulties. This is an honest and complex depiction of a meaningful platonic friendship and doesn't gloss over troubling issues. The minor characters, particularly the talk-show regulars, are quirky and depicted with sly humor. Teens will identify with the intense emotions of Beatrice and Jonas, the reasons they are drawn to each other, and the ups and downs of their relationship. An outstanding choice for a book discussion group.—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ --Kathleen E. Gruver (Reviewed October 1, 2009) (School Library Journal, vol 55, issue 10, p136)
By the time she's a senior, Beatrice Szabo is an expert at emotional detachment, having trained herself not to consider “the houses we lived in as my house, or the street we lived on as our street.” Her biology professor father, constantly following grant money to new positions, has now brought the family to Baltimore. Bea's former best friend—her mother—is coming unhinged, miserable about moving and her deteriorating marriage. So it comes as a surprise to Bea that at her new, small private school she forms a near-instant bond with Jonah Tate, a boy with a past so tragic his withdrawal was probably inevitable. Bea and Jonah's relationship is platonic but intense—two kids drawn to each other by joint recognition of the intelligence behind the robotic facades they wear to get through high school. Bea's darkly comic sensibility carries the story, and Standiford's minor characters—including the over-50 callers on an all-night radio show Bea and Jonah listen to faithfully—provide more humor. There's no happy ending, but that, too, will give this first novel resonance with anybody on the fringe. Ages 13–up. (Oct.) --Staff (Reviewed October 26, 2009) (Publishers Weekly, vol 256, issue 43, p59)
Surprising everyone at their private school, a sardonic loner befriends the new girl in this unusual story of an intense platonic relationship between two misfits. Dubbed a robot by her emotionally unstable mother after she fails to manifest sufficient heartbreak over the death of their gerbil, Bea meets pale, withdrawn Jonah, maliciously called "Ghost Boy" by their peers. Almost immediately, she realizes that she has more in common with Jonah than with the catty, insular girls that surround her and begins to rely increasingly heavily on him even as she discovers more about his tragically strange past. Standiford has crafted a darkly whimsical tale filled with details that will be recognizable to teens truly existing on the fringe, complete with references to John Waters films and outsider musician Daniel Johnston. Bea's original first-person voice will draw readers in, and the unexpected plot will keep them engaged. A decidedly purposeful not-love story, this has all the makings of a cult hit with a flavor similar to Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999). (Fiction. 12 & up) (Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2009)

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