This gave me [book:Beta|10382215] vibes but the scifi story includes the summary that it's AI meeting American Girl which is a unique way to approach the story of Libby bots-- robot girls living in a human world but each kind of boxed robot has different assets. And because there are a handful of Libby's at this new academy, they all give each other nicknames and the main character Libby, whose last name is Maxwell, becomes Max and learns to navigate in this world.

I needed either more intrigue or more dystopia to be completely sold, but it's a solid story that features a future that's not far off.

Unboxing Libby is cleverly written, and demonstrated by the double meaning right in the title. While not a wholly new idea, the preprogrammed personalities of the characters as well as the limitations they create are an excellent metaphor for the expectations and limitations placed on kids by their parents, friends and schools. The ending takes some wild turns in an effort to close all plot holes and keep out of standard scifi territory, but it kept me interested and made sense in the end.

Yall remember that teen movie with Lindsay Lohan and Tyra Banks where Tyra plays a doll that comes to life? Life-Size. Yeah, that's what this reminded me of. Also after watching Megan, I'm not sure yall really want to be out here getting your kids AI dolls. For some reason I thought Unboxing Libby was a graphic novel when I originally requested the book. It's a middle grade chapter book.

It is an emotionally charged book, packed within a programmed android doll characters. Unboxing happens at the very start and unpacking ensues throughout the book. Being different, thinking independently and being the hot-pot of different personalities paints the book with engaging experience. Some scenes were dragged but the storyline and narration is promising.

Unboxing Libby is an amazing book. I love that it can be read as a fun book about robot dolls or the reader can dive deeper into questions like what it means to be human. This super creative book is one that everyone should read!

The Wild Robot meets the Barbie movie, but make it a space opera! This unique story about futuristic lifelike robot dolls makes for a compelling read. Max's voice is hilarious; I laughed several times.

I will admit, though, that I didn't completely buy the story. The whole time I was thinking, "But they're NOT people, they really are just machines, their emotions and thoughts are synthetic!" And we really don't want robots smart enough to outsmart and overthrow us. So I didn't sympathize with the robots' plight too much. I think if they'd been magically-living dolls like in Toy Story, the concept would have worked better for me. That said, I did appreciate the exploration of free will and personhood, even if I didn't agree with the conclusions.

Also, about three-quarters of the way through, I started suspecting that Max's unique code was a metaphor for transgenderism, even bringing in, "If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck..."

This was a fun book about what it means to be yourself, even if yourself isn't who others expect you to be. It was never explicitly stated, but I definitely saw similarities between Max figuring out who she truly is with trans and nonbinary people.

The characters are supposed to be around 12, but most of them felt a bit older. Maybe it was in their coding. Roxanne calling others "cupcake" made her seem more like a 45-year-old waitress at a truck stop than a middle-school-aged kid.

Throwing their own arms at each other was great and I found how Dari was described in the Sky Surferrz theme song downright hilarious.

I will definitely read from Steph Cherrywell again.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital review copy.

Whoah! Mind blown. I knew I was going to read about robots, but I like to go into a book as blind as possible so that was all I knew. I loved all the incredible themes within and out of the box of Unboxing Libby. I can only imagine that readers will be able to take even more themes as they read and make the story their own. Just read it. It will be a fun adventure.
If you’re one who needs more information here is a bit more. AI robots on Mars because of course the Earth is becoming less and less livable so the robots are going to go test out some possible communities for future habitation. But what happens as they learn to adapt to new situations?
Humans can relate to themes of self-expression, learning and understanding who and what you stand for, betrayal, and friendships. What really makes you who you are? What really makes a friend a good friend?

The premise and description of Unboxing Libby immediately brought to mind Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. I didn’t expect to find a masterpiece like Ishiguro’s but the parallels are sometimes there.. in Unboxing Libby we are faced with a world of what I pictured as animatronic American Girl dolls, except I guess they were human sized. There are different models, among them, Izzy, Nora, Wendy, Roxanne and of course Libby. Each model is a specific personality type, Noras are for example artistic, Wendys are brainiacs and Libbys are cheerful and the perfect friend. The book opens with her birth (unboxing) and from early on we realize that this Libby is “different.”
Libby is atypical for a robot. She seems to have unLibby thoughts and fights against her preprogrammed scripts. In fact,
Libby is pretty sure she is not a Libby on the inside and tries to figure out where she fits in. The story progresses with Libby trying to learn who she really is and we see her influence on some of the other robots. For me, the middle is where the story falls apart. It felt hopelessly muddled and I felt like details were being glossed over. By the time we get to the big event/climax, the Halloween Party, I was about ready to throw in the towel. Things were happening with no explanation or reason, as if there was a rush to get to the end.
The end was rushed and happened way too fast to be at all satisfying. The character of Ms. Jessie came across as an evil, hysterical , threatening woman — but she came out of nowhere, having been introduced in the very beginning and ignored to this point. There was no buildup to her being the “big bad”.
All in all it wasn’t a terrible book but I think it could have been much better. It is worth a read if you come across it.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book so I was able to sit back and enjoy the story as it unfolded. There are so many themes here that would make for interesting conversations with middle grade readers. Especially with the current push in AI and more life-like robots - when you give a robot a personality and feelings what ethics come into play when those robots are decommissioned? I found myself sometimes forgetting that the characters were not human after following their very human-like problems with identity and finding a place to fit in. I also thought the idea of the same models of robots expressing their personalities in different ways was a very interesting way to mirror the obstacles young people have in figuring out who they are. I work in a high school and have on more than one occasion had the thought that so many of the students look the same - they style their hair the same way, wear the same types of clothing, do their make-up the same way, etc. It reminds me of the concept of "mass produced individuality" - which is why I so appreciated this book's message of discovering who you really are and that sometimes you can be a little bit of lots of personalities. Max is far from a perfect person and that's what truly makes her so relatable. I loved that she was the one to kind of start the fight, but needed her friends in order to truly bring about the change and security she and the other robots needed. The way in which the "big-bad-company' is brought down was as unexpected as it was genius. I highly recommend this book for classroom and school libraries!

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing me with this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Unboxing Libby pulls on the nostalgic strings for anyone who has played with an American Girl Doll and wished it could come to life.

Set in the far future when colonization of Mars is possible, Libby and her other AI doll friends have one job: to simulate future communities and work out the kinks before humans move in. Their variety of models are programmed with memories, personalities, and skill sets originally designed to provide children with engaging play and friendship. Left to their own devices with limited human interaction, it's only a matter of time before the AI begin to think for themselves especially when one doesn't quite fit the mold.

I found the plot to be predictable of AI, but still a fun take for middle-grade readers. I could easily see this becoming a series.

This was awesome! Such a fantastic balance of action, humor, and heart. I really enjoyed reading it. Excerpts about the dolls or different corporate interviews made the world feel immersive. The humor and social commentary were sharp and also trusted the reader to understand.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing this book, with my honest review below.

What a great book for those who have nostalgia recalling American Girl Dolls and, of course, its target audience of younger readers. I’d go ahead and say this is a targeted for a bookworm at ten, but otherwise closer to 12 - 15 age group (12 being the age of our main character, Libby), though as an adult I enjoyed it as well.

Set on Mars two hundred years in the future, the people on earth have mastered AI and robotics enough to create lifelike robots that are sophisticated enough to inhabit communities on the red planet which is being settled for human life after a past of mining. These robots are put in the communities to ‘try them out’ and the data around their day to day, which mimics that of the humans who will eventually live in their homes, will help find dangers before people move in. The robots are those who don’t sell well on earth, and Libby and her classmates are more specifically A.I.Cademy girls who are party of a popular earth show. Much like our carebears they are known for their somewhat cookie cutter personalities and interests. Libby SHOULD be kind and supportive and focused on baking and the color pink, but due to some issues with her code she breaks the mold, acting just a bit like all the other girls and disregarding the rules set up for her community.

The book offers plenty of background and context to help world build and introduces each character through their doll/robot personae early on. It also throws in a great ‘mystery’ with Libby (who goes by Max as there are several Libby doll/robots present in their community) finding out exactly what happens to those with her issues and how little she and her friends are valued. There are lessons sneakily wrapped up in this story as well as some awesome girl power and justice parts. As an adult I adored it and think tweens (and above) will be similarly interested, if not more!