Last year the book Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro which tells the story of a girl and her AI friend won all kinds of accolades, and it left me cold. The School for Whatnots, on the other hand, found a place in my heart tackling the same subject. Maybe it says more about me than the book, because this one is aimed at the Middle School market, but this is a story which takes the world of technology and humanizes it. I don’t want to give too much of the plot away because part of the pleasure of the book is the way the narrator reveals pieces of the story deliberately and in such a way that the reader is always off balance. Let me just say I loved all the characters and found the basic concept unique. I bet you will too.

Maximillian, aka Max, and Josie become best friends on the first day of Kindergarten and remain best friends throughout their elementary school years. On the last day of fifth grade, at the class party, Josie lets slip that she may never see Max again. Thus begins a mystery adventure novel. Max becomes determined to figure out what a "whatnot" is and to find his best friend Josie.

I was excited to read this book because I have read other books by this author, including The Shadow Children series, and I love the way she writes. I was not disappointed. The School for Whatnots is a touching story about what true friendship really is. The story is told from multiple perspectives with chapters voiced by a narrator, Max, and Josie. This allows the reader to slowly put the pieces of the puzzle together, and see the bigger picture, while reading the book.

Josie is by far my favorite character. She has a confident, curious personality that makes her easy to like. The settings of the characters' dwellings and the school were well written and easy to visualize. I liked the level of science fiction infused into the novel - just enough to make it seem almost realistic. This would be a fun read-aloud to use with fifth and sixth grade students.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #HarperCollinsPublishers for an ARC of #TheSchoolforWhatnots by #MargaretPetersonHaddix in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed are completely my own.

I have never read a book by this author before, I am sold now. I loved this book! The story line of secrects and androids taking over people jobs and even children. This book sucks you in right away and doesn't dissapoint. I can't wait to add this to my lit circles next year.

I picked this up because I still have a visceral memory of reading the Among the Hidden series as a child, and I wanted to see what stuff Haddix was putting out now.

Starting with what I liked:
In a book whose premise does literally start with rich kid has so much money his parents try to buy him friends, it doesn't shy away from discussions of how money does make a difference in people's lives.
I also like that this doesn't entirely focus on Max. Max is given a certain degree of depth of character for a rich kid, but if the story had been a straight forward mystery that we had to follow just him solving it would have been a drag. Josie and Ivy bring a lot of much needed life and dimension to this story.
As a middle grade title I also liked that it did discuss how even when adults mean well and want the best for their kids they still don't know everything and can make mistakes that can hurt their kids.

Things I didn't love as much:
The Narrator asides were fun at first but the farther we got into the story they started to get annoying, they do add some character but I think we could have done just fine without them.
While I'm glad Max wasn't the sole focus of the book, I do wish he would have been allowed to solve a few more of his problems on his own. It felt at times like he was being hand held through his own mystery, though I did admire his sticking by Josie throughout the book.
This are minimal gripes though and since this is a middle grade book it's likely something that won't bother a younger reader. Given that this was Haddix's pandemic book I'm not surprised it's not as dark as I remember Among the Hidden being in my own childhood, but it's still a solid read that I'm sure will make her a favorite for this generation too.

Wouldn't it be grand to be able to send your child to school where they would get exactly the type of experience you wanted them to receive-where there would be students to help them "toughen up," or have friends that teach them how to be generous and caring. Well, you can, if you send your child to The School of Whatnots. Wealthy parents are able to send their child to school where all the other students are actually robots. But the children don't know that. So what happens when the "real" children reach the age where there aren't any more whatnots. What happens then?

The School of Whatnots tells of the journey Maximillan, or Max for short, takes to find out what happened to his best friend Josie and how far he will go to not lose his best friend. The School of Whatnots has plenty of excitement for his audience of middle grade students, but as I read, I would come across these snippets that would make me stop and think about the adult implications of the text. This tale will be a a great addition to a library and would also make a great read aloud.

The School for Whatnots by Margaret Peterson Haddix is a book for the middle school read as have been the bulk of her books. This one is about a rich family who want their son, Maximilian, to know only love and kindness. To ensure this, they contracted with a company to create a school in which Maximilian would be the only human student. They rest would be whatnots, androids. Over the summer the units would be refurbished to show growth and aging before the next school year. Each night the whatnots settled into their recharging beds to prepare for the next day. They were well-behaved and studious. All except one: Josie. She got dirty; she was loud; she was rambunctious; and she shortened his name to Max the first day of Kindergarten so he wouldn't have to write so many letters. They became the best of friends. Josie was human, too. She left him a note on the last day of fifth grade telling him so.

This seemed to be a utopia gone wrong. There were nothing but the best intentions but raising your child without him or her ever having known another child? As it turned out, the whatnots were human, too. It is a long and complicated story and filled with lessons to be learned about friendship by the students who read it. It was complicated and got more so as the reader progressed. There was not a plot so much as a continuing narrative, which was one interesting feature. The narrator stopped the story to speak to the reader, occasionally. As the book progresses, the narrator was introduced and became part of the story. It was a good device and well used in this situation. It was an interesting premise, typical of Haddix' books. It was entertaining and had several really interesting characters, both human and not. I enjoyed it.

I was invited to read The School for Whatnots by HarperCollins, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #harpercollins #margaretpetersonhaddix #theschoolforwhatnots

"No matter what anyone tells you, I'm real."

#TheSchoolForWhatNots is another fantastic and thought-provoking middle grade novel by the amazing #MargaretPetersonHaddix. I truly love everything she writes and this standalone is no different. In this book, rich children go to school in a classroom full of android children, to avoid bullying and concerns that could arise due to fiscal/societal inequalities. The School for Whatnots has a younger feel to it than her other books so it would make a great introduction to the author for younger readers before getting into her other books like The Missing series (my favorite!), Among the Hidden, and The Greystone Secrets.

𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 #NetGalley 𝘢𝘯𝘥 #HarperCollins 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

I have read almost all of Margaret Peterson Haddix’s books and have really enjoyed her plot lines, characters and ideas. I was very excited to get an advanced copy of The School for Whatnots to read. Max is the child of billionaires, who are both concerned that he be exposed to only kind and loving people who like him for himself and not his money. They hire Whatnots, androids that look and act like real children to fill his school classrooms so that he will only be surrounded by good classmates. We discover early on that one of the students is actually a real child from an impoverished home. The only way she could get an education was to leave her home (in kindergarten) and live at the school, pretending to be a Whatnot. While I understand that this story is written for middle grade students, and is meant to be a fun story about humans and technology, I found this part of the story disturbing. The book unintentionally, perhaps, wants us to have empathy for the very rich and their struggles, while glossing over the fact that a 6-year old had to live away from her family in order to get an education. I am not the target audience for this book, so perhaps, I am reading more into the story. One of the best parts of this story was the narrator that spoke directly to the reader and provided some humor. I think children would enjoy this story but I also think that this book could promote a discussion about bigger ideas. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a lot of fun to read. The narrative style and tone were engaging. The narrator asides kept things going well. The narrator is only semi-reliable—and we find out why about two-thirds of the way through.

Although the blurb says the book is about Max, I find that Josie may be an even more important character.

While Max doesn’t know that the children he goes to school with are androids, called “Whatnots”, and the revelation is a painful one, there are even more deceptions in play. Josie, his best friend since the first day of kindergarten, is not a Whatnot. Rather, she was born in poverty and her father arranged for her to pretend to be a Whatnot in order to receive an education that he couldn’t afford. For six years, they only get to spend three weeks a year together during the summer. Josie lives “alone”, although someone appears to be looking after her to a degree.

But there are still more revelations, which I won’t go into here. Haddix provides us with one surprise after another, and they are interconnected.

There has been some comparison to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a story which the children themselves mention. And yes, it’s definitely there. But the outcome differs.

This is a story about wealth and privilege, poverty, kindness, bullying, and ultimately, what friendship truly means.

Possible Objectionable Material:
Some scenes near the end could be frightening. Max, a 5th grader, sneaks out of his house alone. Josie lives all alone under the school. Parents and others lie to children. Bullies.

Who Might Like This Book:
This is perfect for the intended age group. Anyone who likes whimsy, mystery, and books about friends. And yes, those who like Roald Dahl’s books.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing both an ARC and an audio ARC of the book. I far prefer reading to listening, so was grateful to add the book version after receiving the audio version!

This book also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2022/02/who-is-really-your-friend.html

Thank you to Katherine Tegen Books and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
“No matter what anyone tells you, I’m real.”
This is the note that Max, son of very wealthy parents, finds after his end of fifth grade pool party. The handwriting belongs to his best friend, Josie, but it makes no sense to Max. Unbeknownst to him, his parents arranged for Max to attend school with whatnots, androids programmed to act like children but would teach Max to be kind and not be bullied. But Josie, who was born into a poor family, is a real girl pretending to be a whatnot so she can get an education and help her father. Upon learning the news, Max sets out to find Josie and Josie, not liking how things were left, tries to find Max.
The chapters are told by the narrator, alternating between Max, Josie, and the narrator. The first half of the book is leading up to the revelation and the second half is putting the friendship to the test. It’s difficult to give more information without giving away the twist and turn in this book. It is definitely twisty like the Shadow Children series. That being said, I would definitely recommend for grades 4 and up.
#TheSchoolForWhatnots #NetGalley

The story has a good mix of mystery, Sci Fi, Fantasy, and magic, with a whole lot of imagination!
I have enjoyed lol of Margaret Peterson Haddix’s books. I enjoyed that this one was different than some of her other books. It had a bit more magic and whimsy than her Shadow Children series. This book helps students grasp the meaning of privilege. The book is about the power of friendship and the perseverance to do the right thing for others.

Starting school is weird enough without having all the added pressures of acting right, having good social skills and sharing. For wealthy kids like Max this isn't a problem because he attends school with androids who have to like him and guide him in the proper behavior. Max meets Josie and they instantly become best friends. Max knows Josie is different and won't accept the fact that they won't be best friends forever. Josie thinks she is the only different one at school. Stranger Things meets WestWorld meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in a place where wealth and privilege might not teach you how to be human and compassionate. This is a great read for middle schoolers who already feel like the only human in a sea of android adults and different from all the other kids out there. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Overall, it was a good book. Not nearly as “middle grade” as I expected though. Some if the characters seem very immature.

𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝑺𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚:
”A witty story of classism AND robots!?!”

𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔:
This is really cute and witty read. It’s definitely for middle readers, however there are so many good conversations had in this book. The author does a really good job with putting issues of classism and even racism while keeping the book from feeling forced.

I would highly recommend this book for your own middles!

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the ⁣ chance to read this book :)

I really liked the format of this story, the asides from the narrator made me laugh and added some interesting twists. The concept of the Whatnots and the children pretending to be Whatnots was captivating and well done. I liked the setting and how the school for Whatnots worked. Seeing things from both Max and Josie's perspectives particularly the school was great. They were well done characters as were the more minor characters. I also particularly liked Ivy's character as she became a bigger part of the tale. I enjoyed the mystery and thought it was well paced, All around this was a cool book.

Haddix is a great author and I loved the creativity of her latest book. It's fascinating to think about artificial intelligence and its role in society. I highly recommend this to fans of Haddix or science fiction!

Another fantastic middle grade thriller from Margaret Peterson Haddix! Taking place sometime in the future, when wealthy parents can choose to protect their children from either being bullied or becoming bullies by enrolling them in schools where the rest of the class is made up of "whatnots," childlike androids who learn and grow along with the human child. But what if one of the whatnots is actually human, whose parents make a huge sacrifice in the hope of providing their child with a better life? What happens to that child when the official real child ages out of the whatnot program? Especially if they have become friends? So many great twists and reveals that I can't possibly tell you anymore about it! Highly recommended for grades 4 & up.

This book had an interesting premise; it takes place in a future where rich people send their children to schools where the only other students are androids, programmed to make the school experience easy for the wealthy child but we learn the androids may not always be what they seem. While the first half of the book is strong and engaging, I think the story changes very rapidly in the second half and fails to address the questions it raised about privilege and class in a satisfying way.

I really loved this book. I liked the perspectives and the way that the plot progressed. The plot twists were surprising and I really enjoyed the book.

An intriguing story with many twists and turns that will have you debating the ethical and moral merits of having Whatnots… or not… At the heart of this story, what is “best” for children, rich or poor; opportunities; equality; friendship.