Review: Rabbit & Robot
(Photo Credit: Goodreads)
Rabbit & Robot
Author: Andrew Smith
Release: September 25, 2018
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Hey everyone! I wanted to take a few moments to blurb this book, Rabbit & Robot, by Andrew Smith. It comes out TODAY so you may want to go check out your ordering game for this one. I found myself laughing out loud and shaking my head (in a good way) throughout the entire book!
I fell in love with Smith’s writing after reading Winger (2013), then Grasshopper Jungle (2014), then The Alex Crow (2015), and, by this point, I was hooked and read all the rest of his works. THEN I had the pleasure of meeting Andrew Smith in November 2017 because he graciously offered to have coffee with a friend and I when he found out we were willing to drive almost 2½ hours to meet him. During our three hour conversation (I think we managed to forget the “coffee” part of our meeting), Andrew was open and willing to discuss his process and ideas, and was so attentive while listening to our stories. It was such a pleasure and I was so excited to learn about his new book Rabbit & Robot, which he teased by saying “there’s a bisexual, talking giraffe and that’s all I can tell you.”
With that in mind, I’ve spent almost a full year waiting for the release of this book, and I finally got my grubby paws on an ARC from the publisher! This book, while not my favorite of his books (Grasshopper Jungle claims that title), has quirky robots, sexually charged teenagers, talking animals, a giant space cruise ship, and an Earth in the midst of thirty simultaneous World Wars. We follow Cager and his best friend, Billy, as they get into shenanigan after shenanigan aboard The Tennessee with cogs and woz and weird TV programming that every child is forced to watch.
If all that doesn’t tickle your interest even a bit, then look to the undertones. Smith uses teenage protagonists (he writes teenage boys in one of the most realistic ways I’ve ever read) to delve into topics of war, technology, and our own humanity. On the surface, it’s a super weird story, but beneath that you’ll find incredibly deep thoughts regarding what makes humans human, and how narrow the line is that divides humanity and “cog”-ness (robots).
Overall, I’d give this book 4 out of 5 Awesome Austin Points and would recommend this YA novel to anyone who wants to giggle their way through a ridiculous story that will leave them thinking about humanity in a whole new light.
