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Not Quite Human #1
Batteries Not Included
Professor Carson has created the most fantastic of his works: an android with the appearance of a boy of thirteen. Connected to batteries, walking, talking, thinking – his metal body is covered with a skin of plastic and you would never imagine that his blonde hair is nylon... The professor calls him Chip.
To complete the experiment, Dr. Carson has enrolled Chip in Harbor College where he himself teaches science. But can Chip keep his secret?
To complete the experiment, Dr. Carson has enrolled Chip in Harbor College where he himself teaches science. But can Chip keep his secret?
147 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 25, 2014
I loved this kind of book when I was in middle school, it gives me such a good memories! I really liked Chip and his adventures. Hopefully someday I will find this book and buy it, it has been like 15 years the last time i read it!
October 14, 2019
I loved the movies and was super excited to read this book. I got the opportunity to while performing jury duty one day (mostly waiting outside in the hall).
It is a quick, fun read. I really enjoy a book that is a constant stream of puns.
I hope I get to read more.
It is a quick, fun read. I really enjoy a book that is a constant stream of puns.
I hope I get to read more.
August 6, 2017
My first venture into chapter reading. I have a lot of fond memories of this book and this series
January 9, 2019
Read several years ago and it stuck with me!
Read
March 31, 2021I read this ten times when I was ten. I probably read it eleven times when I was eleven...
July 29, 2021
This one had me laughing at one point, something few books are able to do.
September 16, 2014
I can remember as a little kid watching The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights where Mike Eisner, along with a Disney character, would introduce a particular movie. One of my favorites was the beginning of the Not Quite Human movies, called, well... guess.
The inspiration for the movies were the Not Quite Human books. Well, the LOOSE inspiration, as they took the raw concepts and made a completely Alternate Universe telling of the adventures of the Carson family. They changed other things too in that in the films Chip is much more human-like and seems to learn emotions. In the books, I don't think he was ever that way.
I remember hearing from my brother, at eleven years old, that these books were where the movies came from, so I eagerly read them. I don't remember for the life of me if I read them all, but I did read at least a couple of them. Approaching this series from the space of over two decades (yes, I'm giving away my age, or at least an approximation of it), I can say that they are both not as good and better than I remember them being.
The thrust of the series, of which Batteries Not Included is the first book, is that a genius engineer, Dr. Jonas Carson, has created the world's first life-like android, in secret. He has chosen to model the android in the form of a thirteen year old boy named Chip (an obvious pun on the "chips" in the android). He has decided to engage in an experiment by having Chip attend the local junior high of a town they just moved to for the purposes of said experiment. At the school, Becky (Carson's daughter and Chip's "sister") is also a student and Dr. Carson is a new science teacher.
Of course, the experiment is soon threatened as a series of mishaps and crimes occur right when they start at the new junior high, and Chip is the prime suspect, due to being at the wrong place at the wrong time. This isn't helped at all by the fact that his sub-routines on logic and socialization make it impossible to have a normal conversation at first, as he needs to learn (and Dr. Carson to tweak subsequently) his programming here. Because of this, those who like him find him to be a hilarious joker, and those who don't like him find him to be a sarcastic or stupid jerk.
If the real culprit isn't found out, Chip will be in trouble, and to save him, his father will have to reveal the truth and the experiment will end in failure.
Years later, I see this was a quick read and not at all the longish book I remember. It also isn't quite as fantastic and exciting, as seeing the idea of '80's technology working like this doesn't fly with me and the ending was too easy and convenient. That said, it was better in some respects than I remember. The humor of nearly every conversation with Chip was even better now that I can appreciate how annoying he'd be in real life, but hilarious he is in story.
I wince at the idea of a respectable scientist doing an unethical experiment, which this very much is. This is actually lampshaded in the book, wherein Carson doesn't think of it as being unethical, but the character does note that he'd be in big trouble if Chip ever hurt someone.
I really enjoyed this book after so many years. While I liked the movies better, this was also quite fun to read.
The inspiration for the movies were the Not Quite Human books. Well, the LOOSE inspiration, as they took the raw concepts and made a completely Alternate Universe telling of the adventures of the Carson family. They changed other things too in that in the films Chip is much more human-like and seems to learn emotions. In the books, I don't think he was ever that way.
I remember hearing from my brother, at eleven years old, that these books were where the movies came from, so I eagerly read them. I don't remember for the life of me if I read them all, but I did read at least a couple of them. Approaching this series from the space of over two decades (yes, I'm giving away my age, or at least an approximation of it), I can say that they are both not as good and better than I remember them being.
The thrust of the series, of which Batteries Not Included is the first book, is that a genius engineer, Dr. Jonas Carson, has created the world's first life-like android, in secret. He has chosen to model the android in the form of a thirteen year old boy named Chip (an obvious pun on the "chips" in the android). He has decided to engage in an experiment by having Chip attend the local junior high of a town they just moved to for the purposes of said experiment. At the school, Becky (Carson's daughter and Chip's "sister") is also a student and Dr. Carson is a new science teacher.
Of course, the experiment is soon threatened as a series of mishaps and crimes occur right when they start at the new junior high, and Chip is the prime suspect, due to being at the wrong place at the wrong time. This isn't helped at all by the fact that his sub-routines on logic and socialization make it impossible to have a normal conversation at first, as he needs to learn (and Dr. Carson to tweak subsequently) his programming here. Because of this, those who like him find him to be a hilarious joker, and those who don't like him find him to be a sarcastic or stupid jerk.
If the real culprit isn't found out, Chip will be in trouble, and to save him, his father will have to reveal the truth and the experiment will end in failure.
Years later, I see this was a quick read and not at all the longish book I remember. It also isn't quite as fantastic and exciting, as seeing the idea of '80's technology working like this doesn't fly with me and the ending was too easy and convenient. That said, it was better in some respects than I remember. The humor of nearly every conversation with Chip was even better now that I can appreciate how annoying he'd be in real life, but hilarious he is in story.
I wince at the idea of a respectable scientist doing an unethical experiment, which this very much is. This is actually lampshaded in the book, wherein Carson doesn't think of it as being unethical, but the character does note that he'd be in big trouble if Chip ever hurt someone.
I really enjoyed this book after so many years. While I liked the movies better, this was also quite fun to read.
December 5, 2010
I read a few books in this series back in middle school, and decided to check it out again recently along with the rest of the series.
This book series is a rather unique hybrid of genres. It's part sci-fi, part comedy, and part mystery. The story of an android, Chip, who goes to middle school, posing as a regular 13 year old boy, but ends up over his head having to solve mysteries when things go wrong. In the case of the first book, things are stolen around the school and Chip is blamed, and with the help of his human "sister", and he needs to clear his name.
There's a great deal of humor in this series. Chip is so literal minded that he misinterprets half of what's said to him, accidentally causing trouble and misunderstandings. Luckily for him, his literal answers to questions and odd speech mannerisms result in many of the kids simply assuming he has an odd sense of humor.
Actually, that's one of the strange things about this story. In real life, anyone who acted and talked like Chip would be either bullied mercilessly, or at best be assumed to have a mental disability. But the story wouldn't work if that were the case. Instead of being funny, it would quickly veer off into being either depressing or upsetting. So the way Chip's classmates are quick to accept his odd quirks is one of those bits of unrealism that you just have to accept for the sake of the story.
Another unrealistic part is the dialog. It just isn't the way people talk in the real world, but somehow, it didn't bother me. Some of it was clearly unrealistic for the sake of a joke, but it just feels like "story dialog" - dialog you'd only hear in a book.
But these things don't hold the story back in my opinion. The premise is unbelievable on the face of it - an android going to middle school and having to learn how to deal with people, while dealing with all sorts of problems that arise. The humor and dialog make it clear that it doesn't take itself 100% seriously and let you know you're in for a fun ride.
And what a ride it is. It's just fun seeing Chip's interactions with his classmates, him unintentionally getting in trouble with teachers, dealing with technical problems that risk giving away the fact that he's an android, and when you throw in a mystery - which admittedly is more up my alley - it's just a thoroughly enjoyable story. At least, I thought so. It's hardly the most well-written book out there, but for having a fast pace, fun characters, a lot of fun moments, and an interesting premise that's used very well, I can't give this anything less than 4 stars.
This book series is a rather unique hybrid of genres. It's part sci-fi, part comedy, and part mystery. The story of an android, Chip, who goes to middle school, posing as a regular 13 year old boy, but ends up over his head having to solve mysteries when things go wrong. In the case of the first book, things are stolen around the school and Chip is blamed, and with the help of his human "sister", and he needs to clear his name.
There's a great deal of humor in this series. Chip is so literal minded that he misinterprets half of what's said to him, accidentally causing trouble and misunderstandings. Luckily for him, his literal answers to questions and odd speech mannerisms result in many of the kids simply assuming he has an odd sense of humor.
Actually, that's one of the strange things about this story. In real life, anyone who acted and talked like Chip would be either bullied mercilessly, or at best be assumed to have a mental disability. But the story wouldn't work if that were the case. Instead of being funny, it would quickly veer off into being either depressing or upsetting. So the way Chip's classmates are quick to accept his odd quirks is one of those bits of unrealism that you just have to accept for the sake of the story.
Another unrealistic part is the dialog. It just isn't the way people talk in the real world, but somehow, it didn't bother me. Some of it was clearly unrealistic for the sake of a joke, but it just feels like "story dialog" - dialog you'd only hear in a book.
But these things don't hold the story back in my opinion. The premise is unbelievable on the face of it - an android going to middle school and having to learn how to deal with people, while dealing with all sorts of problems that arise. The humor and dialog make it clear that it doesn't take itself 100% seriously and let you know you're in for a fun ride.
And what a ride it is. It's just fun seeing Chip's interactions with his classmates, him unintentionally getting in trouble with teachers, dealing with technical problems that risk giving away the fact that he's an android, and when you throw in a mystery - which admittedly is more up my alley - it's just a thoroughly enjoyable story. At least, I thought so. It's hardly the most well-written book out there, but for having a fast pace, fun characters, a lot of fun moments, and an interesting premise that's used very well, I can't give this anything less than 4 stars.
January 2, 2013
A fantastic beginning to a fantastic series. The entire series energetically combines adventure, danger, mystery, and heaps of idiomatic humor powered by the absurd and always honest naivete of its "not quite human" protagonist. The series terminates at the perfect number of volumes before McEvoy's clever formula becomes dull. Sadly that number had to be six, but each of the six is strong enough to elicit laughter after multiple re-readings.
September 17, 2013
These are not good by any means of modern standards, but I will still give them 5 stars because of their significance to me when reading them for the first time. It was a book about a family that loved each other so much they were willing to fight, tooth and nail, to protect the secret of their robot son/ brother. I didn't have much of that at home, and McEvoy gave it to me.
October 26, 2011
Read this book multiple times as a kid. Loved the whole robot being human idea. It sparked off quite a few creative ideas for me actually. Good adventure, good pace, a little dated now, but not too much.
July 18, 2013
I read this entire series of books (1 through 6) about 100 times in the 1980's. I don't know if I want to ruin the illusion of how great they were by revisiting them as an adult, but I'm sure that any geeky person who reads them today will be amused by all the references to 1980's technology.
February 23, 2013
Read this in elementary school, it brings back fond memories. I'm relatively confident I completed the entire series courtesy of my school's library.
March 13, 2015
Childhood memories
March 31, 2016
Gosh that book made me laugh when I was a child
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April 17, 2007My uncle wrote this! Go uncle Seth!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews