about the book
“We Rallying Raccoons hadn’t won a game in pretty much as long as anyone could remember. In any sport. Not a single one. Soccer, baseball, cheerleading, basketball, girls’ gymnastics, not even a game of air hockey at the skating rink on a Friday night…. In short, we were the losing-est middle school ever in the history of middle schools.”
So why would I want to join the Rallying Robo-Raccoons, the after-school robotics club? I wouldn’t. It’d prevent me from playing video games till dinner and avoiding my older brother in a way I choose.
But dad forces me to become a Robo-Raccoon.
To make things even worse, Missy the Cruel—my long-time bully—and the mysterious “Lunchbox Jones” join, too. Everybody’s scared of Lunchbox Jones.
Can I please just go home and play Alien Onslaught? We’re just going to lose anyway.
about the author
Jennifer Brown was born outside of Kansas City, Missouri, and moved often as a child.
She wrote her first tale in fourth grade; it was two pages long, and the main character had a name like Donna Schlieigermeigssterkks. Valerie’s grandmother got such a hoot out of the story, she called an aunt and read the whole thing over the phone, laughing. Jennifer loved the attention.
Shortly after graduating from high school, Jennifer’s GRAND PLAN involved moving to the inner city and slinging pizzas. After several moves and job changes, she ended up taking night classes at William Jewell College, earning a degree in psychology. She got a job in human resources, but spent her time hiding in her cubical pounding out poems and stories instead of working.
After writing her first book, she took it on her first in-person pitch to an agent. The agent told her no one would buy the book with Jennifer’s “midwest voice.” Jennifer went home, cried for hours, stuck the book in a closet, and started writing again.
Now a published author and award-winning humor columnist, Jennifer still makes her home in Kansas City with her husband, three active kids, two cats, a boxer pup, and basset hound.
Sources:
Author biography: Goodreads
Author interview : Tara Lazar
Author interview: Ashley Morgan Promotions
Author interview: Mid-Continent Public Library
Also by Jennifer Brown:
Life on Mars. Bloomsbury USA Children’s. 2014.
read more!
Brother from a Box by Evan Kuhlman
Matt always wanted a brother, so imagine his joy when the mail brings a box with Norman, a bionically amplified robot—ordered by his dad. Norman even calls Matt his brother! However, soon Matt is wishing Norman were a bit more normal, especially when he starts flirting with girls, going berserk, and getting in trouble with odd, government-type men.
Life on Mars by Jennifer Brown
The Chambers family is obsessed with space. Arty has even built a communication device that will help him find life on Mars. When his dad takes a job in Las Vegas, Arty’s devastated—you can’t stargaze in the city! He is forced to stay with his scary new neighbor while his parents go house hunting, and he’s pretty sure the guy a criminal or zombie. With all these changes will Arty ever be able to find life on Mars?
The Winter of the Robots by Kurtis Scaletta
Tired of his geeky, robot-obsessed friend Oliver, Jim decides to partner up with a girl named Rocky for their next science project. Rocky suggests they study wild otters at a nearby river. Instead, they discover a vacant junkyard, with strange things living in it. Are they robotic dinosaurs?