Tensions rise in this middle-grade adventure when wealthy kids attend school with sophisticated robots! This seemingly utopian solution, designed to ease the guilt of rich parents, backfires spectacularly. Enter Max, a privileged boy, and Josie, a seemingly robotic classmate who becomes his unlikely friend. When Josie mysteriously vanishes, Max embarks on a daring quest to find her, uncovering secrets that blur the lines between human and machine.

Another action-packed and surprising story from Haddix, perfect for young readers who love robots and mysteries!

Note: I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy of The School for Whatnots by Margaret Peterson Haddix for me to preview. MPH is one of my favorite middle grade authors and her books are still popular in my library.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s for this DRC.
A middle-grade humans versus the robots. Adult human scientists decide that it’s a great thing for the uber wealthy to send their kids to school with humanoid robots, to that they don’t have feel bad. Ugh! But of course, they aren’t really all robots. Max is the rich boy, and Josie is the not really robot who becomes is best friend. When Josie disappears, Max will do whatever he can to find her.
Another fun and twisty one from MPH.
#TheSchoolforWhatnots #NetGalley

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to the advanced copy of this book to read.

I could not put this book down. What an absolutely spectacular concept! Ms. Haddix is one of the very best science fiction writers for middle grade readers.

The narrator is brilliant. Did not see it coming that the narrator would be so involved in the story. This is a well written fantastic way to look at how we treat each other and what those long term effects are.

Rich parents pay for their children to go to school with Whatnots — androids that are indistinguishable from human children — so that their kids grow up safe and kind and without any jealousy or bad habits from other children. The kids are never told about the Whatnots, of course. They grow up and make human friends and the kids of their childhood classroom fade into memory.

Max’s parents decide to go this route. But when his best friend Josie leaves him a note that says “No matter what anyone tells you, I’m real,” Max is determined to find out the truth.

I will say that I really enjoyed the premise. Max and Josie are sweethearts and I loved their friendship. The narrative style is lovely and I was completely enthralled throughout the first half of the book. I genuinely thought this was going to be a five-star read, a new favorite, a book I would recommend to everyone and anyone.

Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Around the halfway point, the story changes for the worse. There is a weird maze underneath the school and challenges they must face to make it to the end. It felt like The Westing Game but bad, which I didn’t know was possible. Narratively and thematically, the entire second half of the book is toothless.

SPOILERS BELOW
It turns out that the creator of Whatnots has been filling these classrooms with real, human kids who have been taught to act like robots in exchange for a better education than their family could afford. They live at the school and only see their parents for three weeks a year.

Here’s the thing — the lady who created Whatnots has all this power and money. The book made more sense when it was only Josie (and maybe Ivy) who were real kids snuck in with the Whatnots. It makes more sense if a subversive group of people is doing the best they can to get some kids better education instead of the person who has a ton of wealth and influence doing the most convoluted and traumatizing thing to “help” these kids. She could have told the rich parents that she discontinued Whatnots. She could have funded schools for the poor kids. She could have created scholarships or lobbied the government or done LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE.

The whole idea that the poor kids have all been pretending to be robots is extremely tragic and messed up and not really thoroughly addressed. At the end of the story, nothing fundamentally changes. The ultra-wealthy are still ultra-wealthy and any poor kids who weren’t part of this program (and thus aren’t in our cast of characters) still don’t have access to a good education.

I desperately wanted to love this book. I even teared up at the end, based on the strength of Max and Josie’s relationship alone. But the book itself is not one I’d recommend.

From what I remember, I think this may be the Margaret Peterson Haddix book that I have enjoyed the most. I think Haddix is not the author for me but I definitely enjoyed this one.
I think she created a reasonable world with a fairly interesting mystery. However, since finishing the book two days ago (and reading multiple other graphic novels and middle grades books in between...I blame bookopolathon...) I remember little about the book and thus this review ends up as below average for a slightly above average book.

While the plot was a bit choppy and sorta all over the place, I think this is a wonderful book written for KIDS. So many adults review books through their adult eyes. I would have absolutely LOVED this book as an 11 year old. I imagine many kids will enjoy it.

Adorable sci-fi middle grade read with real world implications. The pace in this was medium, but felt fast. I blew right through this book I was enjoying it so much. The concept is fantastic and integrates a good dystopian type narrative with messages about equality (or lack thereof) with regard to wealth, privilege, and opportunity.

I really loved the first half of the book. I thought the premise was unique and the characters were interesting. I also enjoyed the mystique surrounding some of the characters and the intercalary chapters in which the narrator spoke directly to the reader. However, as Josie and Max started delving into the mystery surrounding the whatnots and their upbringing, I felt as if it went off the rails a little bit. The last third of the book forced me to suspend disbelief in a much more extreme way than I had to for the first part, and I had a very hard time doing so. Even still, it was an original storyline from a master of middle grade science fiction.

All parents want what is best for their child, but "best" can have many different definitions. Rich parents want their children to grow up with friends who like them for themselves, not for what they can give them; poor parents want their children to have all the advantages that will help them grow up to live a better life than their parents. Both groups will do their best to help their children grow up to have a good life. But what if there's a lot more overlap in how to do that than they thought?

Max is the only child of rich parents; they want him to be healthy, and happy, and liked for himself - not for his money. So they do what they think is best, and they surround him with whatnots, special androids programmed to help Max become the best person he can be, while still ensuring he has a happy, reasonably carefree childhood - especially because Max is never told his schoolmates are whatnots; as far as he knows, he's surrounded by other children.

Josie's mother died in childbirth, and she is a poor child, the only daughter of a construction worker. When Josie's mother dies, Josie's father is offered a chance to get his daughter the education he never had, the education he can't afford to give her - but to get that, he'll have to agree to let her go to school away from him for all but three weeks of the year. And more, she'll have to live in a little room in the school the rest of the time, surrounded by the recharging station for the whatnots who make up the rest of the school. The one rule Josie is given is that she can never tell Max about whatnots.

When children like Max and Josie finish elementary school, they're separated. Children like Max are, slowly, told the truth about the whatnots who surrounded them up through fifth grade, as they are sent to a new school in sixth grade where about half the children are whatnots and half are children, so that by the time they're told the truth at the end of sixth grade, they've made friends with real children. Children like Josie are sent to different schools than the rich children they grew up with, so that they can stop pretending to be whatnots themselves, and so that they will never encounter the rich child from elementary school again. But when Max and Josie reach the end of elementary school, the process goes wrong.

This novel is a fascinating commentary on social standing and wealth, and how it can impact children from a very young age - from both ends of the spectrum. Written in a way that makes a wonderful and comprehensible story for younger readers, the deeper meanings will be apparent to older readers, who will also enjoy the story itself. Those familiar with Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will see some rather deliberate parallels, but familiarity with that novel isn't necessary to enjoy this one. This novel is recommended for readers from upper elementary to adult.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Another captivating read from a master storyteller! Haddix's series are so popular in my Media Center and this is certain to be another appealing addition to our collection.
The suspense and intrigue begins immediately with the ominous quote, "no matter what anyone tells you, I'm real." How could any reader (more geared to my older elementary school students) not be drawn into what will definitely be a roller-coaster of a plot?
This thriller contains all the elements of a wild read. It touches upon so much. The provocative theme of modern technology and robots intermixed with a bit of the supernatural kept me on the edge. The term, "whatnot," is introduced. My readers are certain to be fascinated by the role of whatnots and what they represent. Yet, what emerges ultimately is that precious theme of love of family and to what ends parents will go to ensure what's best for their child.
Friendship reigns but at what cost? Bullying is examined in a drastic manner which serves to emphasize its harsh cost to children and the readers' ideas are certain to be challenged. It's a book that will make the readers truly think about what defines a friend. What a great read!

This is a terrific piece of middle grade fiction from a wonderful writer. Max is just finishing elementary school and his parents have tried hard to make sure that his elementary school experience was nothing but positive. They were able to do that because they were so very rich that they could send him to a school that had no other real kids, just robots who were programmed to interact positively with him. Max is bereft at losing his best friend, Josie, so he sets out to find her and finds some pretty surprising things. Loved this one.

I am a huge fan of Haddix's books and they are always checked out of my classroom library. I am not quite positive what the message of this book was. I may have to re-read it to decide.

The School for Whatnots is a lovely and engaging read about the power of friendship and the great lengths a group of friends will fight through to do the right thing. I absolutely loved Max, Josie, and the rest of the characters. The story kept me guessing and turning pages to find out how everything connected and turned out in the end. Highly recommend, especially to middle-grade readers (4-6 grades) but acceptable for younger and older audiences. No language or compromising situations.

This book was okay. The story started off very well, but seem to just lose steam. The ending was a bit lackluster. I never felt like the characters grew or developed well. Overall it is a good story but has some issues for me.

I received a complimentary copy of The School for Whatnots from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own

I just loved this book! The theme is the best part, but I refuse to give spoilers...so I highly recommend reading it!

This novel was a perfect blend of human characters, as well as human emotions, and robot characters. As a teacher, I loved to hate the opportunity of the wealthy to completely control the school environment of their children, however it seemed to work out positively for most of the students. Students who were lucky enough to be awarded scholarships for the same chance at education were also positively affected by their experiences. Another original storyline from Margaret Peterson Haddix! Very well worth the read.

Margaret P. Haddix may be the Neal Shusterman for middle grades. Such terrific, futuristic and unimaginable story plots full of artificial intelligence, science, and technology along with very human emotions and relationships. Readers in grades 5-7 will be intrigued by the idea of a school with human and android children and, for most of the book, won’t be entirely sure who falls into each of those categories! Along the way, as Max and Josie do everything they can to stay friends, there will be lessons in empathy and being a friend. Outstanding choice for libraries serving the target age group with no worries about profanity, sexual content, or violence. Representation: Main characters are Caucasian and Black…and some are made of metal and assorted computer pieces!

THE SCHOOL FOR WHATNOTS
Margaret Peterson Haddix


Bouncy Josie meets Max on the first day of school, and their friendship grows strong. They work and play together and are constantly texting when they are apart. After a pool party on the last day of school Max finds a note Josie has written telling him “No matter what anyone tells you, I'm real”. Worried, Max tries to text her but she doesn’t respond; he eventually tries to find her.

Unknown to him, his expensive school is a school for Whatnots - androids so well-made that they pass for real children. Max’s rich parents want him to be surrounded by kind, well-behaved children; they’ve sent him to a school where they believe his environment will be completely controlled.

Josie, however, is in fact a real girl - and a poor one. Her father has agreed to an elaborate scheme, sending her to the school for all but 3 weeks of vacation. He believes this is the only way she will receive a good education and a chance at a scholarship. She believes she and Max are the only real children, and she too is trying to find Max - and unravel the unusual circumstances behind their school.

Margaret Peterson Haddix has once again crafted a stupendous book. This thought-provoking story draws the reader in; an unknown narrator occasionally clarifies or informs the bemused reader of background or details, but now and again the narrator too is nonplussed. Plot twists abound in this engrossing and intricate tale. Highly recommended.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for this honest review