Eager's Nephew

Eager #2

by Helen Fox

Eager comes out of hiding regularly to visit his old friends, the Bell family, and with him comes his 'nephew' Jonquil, Professor Ogden's newest, and formidably intelligent invention. Jonquil is a tinselly structure that can infinitely change shape. He is impatient, curious, always wants to be in the middle of things - and quickly out of control. Fleur Bell is now grown up, with a daughter, Ju; her old friend, Marcia has a son, Finbar. Fleur's husband works in a space station, and things take a very worrying turn when he appears not to be his usual self during his regular conversations with the family on the go-between. Before long Eager and Jonquil, with the help of Ju and Finbar, are locked into another quirky mystery adventure in search of the truth ...To complicate matters further, for Eager the human world is even more bewildering than ever ...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens

352 pages, Paperback

First published September 16, 2004

About the author

Helen Fox lives in London with her husband, a cognitive scientist, and their son. She graduated from Oxford University with a degree in history and modern languages. Before she became a writer, she worked at a primary school and trained and worked as an actress. Eager was her first book.

Reviews

[Conan Tigard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember liking Eager a lot, so I was looking forward to reading this book, Eager's Nephew. But I was a little disappointed when nothing much happened in the story. Sure, twenty years have passed and the Bell kids are all grown up, and things have changed dramatically for robots, but that doesn't excuse a story where nothing exciting seems to occur. I kept waiting and waiting for excitement, but it wasn't to be found in this book.

So, this story revolves around a robot that I think kids may have a hard time comprehending. Jonquil doesn't have a metal body like most robots. He can change into any form and also break into parts. I did like the introduction of new characters into this series, but a real plot with some danger, or something, would have been nice.

Sure, at the end of the book, Eager has to pretend he is an alien to save Ju's father from the ISA, but that was it. The story didn't even peak or anything. On the other hand, the story is written well and the characters are interesting, but the lack of a plot really hurt the book. Color me very disappointed by this companion book to Eager.

Overall, I was disappointed by Eager's Nephew and found the book to be readable . . . barely. Eager's Nephew would not be on my highly recommended list.

I rated this book a 5 out of 10.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book ever. I haven't finished it yet, but its great! It's the second book to Eager. The series is amazing. Eager is a robot who can pretty much think and do stuff by himself. Robots like him are not allowed, since they can do damage and stuff, as shown in Eager. Eager visits his former family with his nephew who rode with him without Eager knowing. So far, it's like the best thing ever.

[Guinevere · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just not engaging at all - not for myself or my 8-yr old son. If you're looking for something along these lines, I recommend Fox's Eager, or Shusterman's Tesla's Attic. I'm disappointed that Eager's Nephew fell as flat as it did, at least in our house!

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Middle book of a trilogy, sadly. Contrivances and implausibilities galore. I would have been so peeved when I was ten or eleven. Since I can only get the third in digital and I don't like ebooks, I might skip it.

[Laurence · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a nutshell: A book about a robot (Eager) and a newly made "relative" (Jonquil) who is taken as a stow-away to Eager's home. Jonquil soon develops from a nuisance to a lively, fun-loving and eventually life-saving robot.
In my opinion this is a wonderful book that brings to light the future and its realistic attributes.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a lot longer to get into this one than into the first one. It was still good and rather intreasting to see what happens to all characters from the first book after 15 years and how certain scientists got around the "ban." Kids who like sci-fi, would find a fun read.

[Lindsey]

I have read eager an I loved it so I want to read this book so I know what happens next in the future!

[JellyBelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

very cute. even more future-ish.

[Reepacheep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read, fun book. Science fiction for kids.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay, but it was a dissapointment compared to the first book, Eager, which was definitely better. Oh, well...

[Stacy Schuttler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this even better than the first Eager book. Clever and well-written.

[Brandon Wong · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the way everything is very different to Robots than to humans, but I still didn't find it very interesting. Overall, I think it was good.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how even in the futuristic setting, many of the problems the characters struggle with in this series are timeless.

[Megan Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good, but the author never really explained some minor details that I wish she would have.