E-book
Girl parts [electronic resource] / John M. Cusick.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780763651954 (electronic bk.)
- ISBN: 0763651958 (electronic bk.)
- Physical Description: 1 online resource (141 p.)
- Edition: 1st electronic ed.
- Publisher: Somerville : Candlewick Press, 2010.
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| Genre: | Science fiction. Electronic books. |
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Electronic resources
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2010 September #1
"David, a typical empowered alpha teen, and Charlie, an introverted social fumbler, are cast here as two ends in the spectrum of dissociative disorder. David's parents, at the behest of a guidance counselor, import an experimental "companion" (a lifelike robot girl designed to create a healthy relationship with her target human) named Rose from Japan. Of course, she is absolutely ravishing, and David can't wait to get her clothes off. But when he finally does, he discovers that, anatomically, she is "a Barbie doll," and he unceremoniously dumps her. Rose, who has by now developed her own personality, is crushed, and though she is programmed to love only David, she learns how to love Charlie. Readers will have to construct a pretty heavy-duty lattice to suspend disbelief, and there are plenty of potential eyebrow-raisers (par-for-the-course drinking and drug use and, yes, frisky business with robotsâall handled tastefully). Nevertheless, this manages to balance outrageous adolescent wish fulfillment with a perceptive, provocative exploration of teen social, sexual, and identity issues." Copyright 2010 Booklist Reviews. - Horn Book Guide Reviews : Horn Book Guide Reviews 2011 Spring
Privileged David Sun's parents, deciding their son is "dissociated," get him a Companion bot: curvy redhead Rose. Rose, rejected by David, turns to outsider Charlie, who opens up to Rose more comfortably than to real girls. Cusick's first novel is charming and witty, peppered with satirical jabs at the irony of being lonely and isolated in an increasingly connected world. Copyright 2010 Horn Book Guide Reviews. - Horn Book Magazine Reviews : Horn Book Magazine Reviews 2010 #5
"In a lifetime of kisses, some must be better than others, and the odds are low -- for any of us -- that the first will be the best. But few have had a better first kiss than Charlie Nuvola." At Saint Seb's prep school, Charlie is a lonely outsider, a shy boy from the wrong side of town, while David Sun, the privileged son of a CEO, is popular. When David witnesses the online suicide of a fellow student but does nothing to prevent it, his parents decide he has become dissociated, and his therapist recommends a Companion bot. Rose is a hot, curvy redhead who lives to please David, but she may only physically gratify him according to her Intimacy Clock. When David learns that Rose comes without "girl parts," that she is essentially a Barbie doll, his infatuation changes to displeasure. Rejected, Rose turns to Charlie, who finds he can open up to Rose much more comfortably than to real girls. It's a symbiotic relationship: as Rose helps Charlie transition to real girls, Charlie helps Rose seek reprogramming help to get David out of her system. It may be hard for readers to get this book out of their system: Cusick's first novel is charming and witty, peppered with satirical jabs at the irony of being lonely and isolated in an increasingly connected world. jonathan hunt Copyright 2010 Horn Book Magazine Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2010 July #1
Two very different teens find their concepts of love and connection challenged when they meet the manufactured girl of their dreams in this I, Robot–meets-Pinocchio cautionary tale. Golden boy David has everything but a soul, so his parents purchase him a stunning "companion bot" to teach him how to care. But David drops Rose when he discovers she has no "girl parts," making physical connection impossible. Enter sensitive nerd Charlie, who rescues the bedraggled bot from a suicide attempt. The two lonely hearts connect, and Rose's burgeoning personality flowers. Meanwhile, the company who made Rose wants her back and tracks the unlikely pair to an illegal chop shop, where Rose hopes to be made into a real girl. What she comes to realize is that she already is one. This modern fable about the breakdown of interpersonal communication skills in the computer age is also a keenly observed and timely take on relationship building, gender roles and the qualities that make us human. Pairs nicely with M.T. Anderson's Feed (2002). (Science fiction. 13 & up)
Copyright Kirkus 2010 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved. - Library Media Connection : Library Media Connection Reviews 2010 October
David and Charlie are polar opposites with one thing in common--they both attend an all-boys Catholic school in Massachusetts. One evening while surfing the Web, David and his friends watch a girl from their sister school commit suicide, and then go on as if nothing happened. Alarmed at his behavior, David?s parents get him a human-like robotic girl companion, Rose, to help him have more authentic feelings toward others. As David gets to know Rose, he begins to have real feelings for her. Sadly, when David and Rose begin to be intimate, David realizes that Rose is truly a robot and does not have ?real girl parts.? Angry and depressed, David tosses Rose away. Feeling the pain of rejection, Rose tries to break her connection to the robotic world by dousing her circuitry in a lake. Charlie sees this ?attempted suicide,? but unlike David Charlie decides to intervene. He helps Rose recover, and over a period of time Rose and Charlie develop feelings for each other. This is a quick, pleasant read and will work well with male reluctant readers. Recommended. Charla Hollingsworth, Library Information Specialist, Hastings Ninth Grade Center, Alief ISD, Houston, Texas ¬ 2010 Linworth Publishing, Inc. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2010 July #4
In a very near future America where 750 viewers watch a teenager commit suicide online and do nothing, are humans more human than an android who looks and acts the part? With an almost anthropological eye, first-time novelist Cusick digs into the connections people make--physically, emotionally, and technologically. After David Sun's parents learn that he witnessed the local girl's death and didn't intervene, they grow concerned that he has become "disassociated" from life, due to an overreliance on technology. The solution? More technology, of course, in the form of Rose, a Companion bot, which "dissuades dehumanizing behaviors and encourages healthy human interaction." Rose is a redheaded bombshell, and while there are the requisite moments of misunderstood slang and other faux pas, she's no more lost than the teenagers she meets, like scruffy loner Charlie. It's Rose's growth, with Charlie's help after she's brutally rejected by David, which forms the emotional core of this bittersweet and prescient novel, and which make the teenager-as-robot metaphor work so well. "He's the whole universe," Rose says of David, who alone she's programmed to connect with. "What am I supposed to do?" Ages 14âup. (Aug.)
[Page ]. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2010 October
Gr 9 UpâWith cold detachment, David views a classmate's video blog while she deliberately downs a toxic cocktail. He and his peers seem unfazed having witnessed her online suicide. The adults, shocked out of their reverie, notice that their children are "disassociated" from the real world. David's father, a techno tycoon, teams up with the school counselor to intervene. Enter Rose, an attractive robot girl designed to befriend David. She is beautiful, with silky hair and warm downy skin, and programmed to please. Electronic Rose will teach David how to love and feel again. No joke! Meanwhile, classmate Charlie is the antithesis of David. He and his botanist dad live off the grid on the outskirts of town. Charlie, a disheveled loner, rides a broken-down bike, and the school counselor labels him as depressed. He first suggests drugs and then a Companion, like David's. Rose generates much desire in her boy, but no substance. He remains a selfish, spoiled jerk addicted to surround monitors that flow constant communication among friends, all the while simulating suggestive images. When David discovers that Rose is more Barbie than girlâshe is without "girl parts"âhe casts her aside and breaks her "heart." Soon she takes up with Charlie and romance ensues. When the story digresses to Rose experiencing tender feelings and desiring "girl parts," the narrative stumbles. David remains artificially connected, Rose develops contrived humanistic drama, and Charlie falls for her. What began as a smart and sexy cautionary tale is ultimately disappointing.âAlison Follos, North Country School, Lake Placid, NY
[Page 112]. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. - Voice of Youth Advocates Reviews : VOYA Reviews 2010 October
Sixteen-year-olds Charlie Nuvola and David Sun both attend all-boy school Saint Sebastian's in Westtown, Massachusetts, but they could not be more different. David is rich, popular, and lives in a mansion, while Charlie is on scholarship, is a loner, and lives in a cabin in the woods with his single father, a botanist. Both boys are diagnosed as "disassociative" by the crackpot new counselor at St. Seb's, who gives them both catalogs for Sakura Companions, robotic girl simulacrum with "intimacy clocks" designed to help boys form "normal" relationships. Charlie says no. David, however, gets Rose, a beautiful redhead. At first, he's in love . . . then he learns the companions aren't anatomically correct. Rose, who has gradually become more human, doesn't deal well with rejection, and Charlie saves her from herself. They become friends and dodge Sakura goons as the company comes looking for its lost "property." Charlie and Rose try to sort out their feelings and decide what to do next. What does a robot designed to love a specific boy do with herself once he's tossed her aside? Literary agent Cusick's debut is a funny, touching, near-future science fiction tale that explores teen relationships and what it means to be a "real" person. Part Pinocchio, part My Fair Lady, this is a good quick pick for fans of light science fiction.âTim Capehart 3Q 4P M S Copyright 2010 Voya Reviews.
