How To Say Goodbye in Robot (YA)

How To Say Goodbye In Robot. Natalie Standiford. 2009. [October 2009]. Scholastic. 288 pages.

Goebbels materialized on the back patio, right before we moved to Baltimore, and started chewing through the wicker love seat. We figured he was an escapee from one of the neighbors' houses, probably the Flanagans two doors down.

Bea and Jonah. Robot Girl and Ghost Boy. Can these two 'misfit' teens find happiness (or something approaching happiness at least) by sticking together?

Bea is new to town, new in school. She's the "new girl." So obviously, undisguisedly new. Most of her classmates have known each other for years--some even ten or twelve years. So how will she fit in at this private school?

Jonah just doesn't fit in. At all. Not even a little bit. Does he care? Not really. You see fitting in at his high school is not part of his plan. (And he does have a plan.) He's been "Ghost Boy" since junior high. They even had a funeral service for him way back when. He's been labeled many things, odd being the nicest most likely. But for some reason, Bea is drawn to him. For a "ghost" he seems more real than anyone else in school. He definitely makes her curious. Starting with when he slips her a note:

To: Beatrice
From: 1120 AM. Midnight Tonight. Beatrice of the Future will thank you.

How To Say Goodbye in Robot is definitely an odd book, unique too. The story. The characters. The dialogue. The friendship. Everything is odd in good way. An amazing way. It reminds me of John Green's Looking for Alaska and Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak. But not for the reasons you might think. I definitely recommend it.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews