Helpful Score: 3
Good book, from a 4th grader. I enjoyed the plot of 2 boys who started out being unfriendly with each other and ended up being friends.
Helpful Score: 1
An easy 4th grade read... fun and fast says our 9y/o
Child Magazine
Only a miracle -- like a homework machine named Belch -- could unite this unlikely foursome: genius inventor Brenton, overachiever Judy, slacker Kelsey, and smart-aleck Sam. At first, only the machine connects them, but after enough sessions of "doing homework" together, they begin to value each other's differences and become friends. Ideal for middle-grade readers, this highly entertaining story unfolds in short, first-person interviews at the police station. (Yes, they do get caught.) Tucked in between the laughs are excellent messages about tolerance, honesty, and the importance of what the students' teacher calls the "homework machine [that] already exists. It's called your brain." (Ages 8 to 12)
Child magazine's Best Children's Book Awards 2006
Child Magazine
Only a miracle -- like a homework machine named Belch -- could unite this unlikely foursome: genius inventor Brenton, overachiever Judy, slacker Kelsey, and smart-aleck Sam. At first, only the machine connects them, but after enough sessions of "doing homework" together, they begin to value each other's differences and become friends. Ideal for middle-grade readers, this highly entertaining story unfolds in short, first-person interviews at the police station. (Yes, they do get caught.) Tucked in between the laughs are excellent messages about tolerance, honesty, and the importance of what the students' teacher calls the "homework machine [that] already exists. It's called your brain." (Ages 8 to 12)
Child magazine's Best Children's Book Awards 2006
