The Girl and the Robot

Author: Oz Rodriguez, Claribel A. Ortega

An out-of-this-world story about friendship, empowerment, and . . . running from federal agents?

With a little heart, you can fix anything.

Mimi Perez fixes things. Phones, tablets, speakers, printers. She gets it from her dad—helping him at the family e-repair shop was always one of Mimi’s favorite things to do. But ever since Papi was deported, there’s a lot more than electronics that need fixing in Mimi’s world. Things too big for any twelve-year-old to handle on her own.

Mimi hustles around her Brooklyn neighborhood trying to earn enough money to finally fix her family. There’s no time for school or friends, but Mimi knows it will all be worth it the day Papi comes home. Then her ex-friends approach her with a proposal -- enter a robotics competition with them, and they could win $50,000. It could be her chance.

Not part of the plan? A mysterious robot crashing to earth. From space.

The robot is scared, alone, and broken, and federal agents are after her. Mimi does what any street-smart electronics repair person would, she takes the robot home, fixes her up, and in the process, makes herself a friend.

Suddenly, Mimi is anything but alone. She’s part of a robotics team. She’s sheltering a robot. She’s dodging federal agents. And keeping all of it a secret from her mom.

Location: C RF L4 001