A Very Personal Computer - Hardcover

Rendal, Justine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060254041 ISBN 13: 9780060254049

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1995

Synopsis

What if one day you were sitting in front of a computer and the impossible happened: it started communicating with you and actually offered to do your homework for you? Just when twelve year-old Pollard Gunning is giving up on almost everything—eighth grade, the Red Sox, his lousy home life—that's just what happens. And that's only the beginning. Next Pollard is learning how to be a dream batter—and how to ask a girl out on a date. Suddenly, Pollard's mixed-up world takes a techno-turn and the "year of weird" also becomes the year a very personal computer comes to the rescue. Justine Rendal has written a fresh, funny, and moving novel about loss and love and unlikely friendships that shows how sometimes even the impossible can be wonderfully possible.

1996 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)

About this title

About the Author

Justine Rendal writes books for both children and adults. This is her first children's book for HarperCollins. She lives in New York, NY.

Reviews

Grade 4-7?An amazing computer program comes to the aid of 11-year-old Pollard, who has had his share of problems, including the recent deaths of his mother and his dog. In addition, he's the smallest in his class, has no friends, and is failing most of his classes. Then he encounters Conner, a "compensatory program," who knows everything about him and will do whatever he asks. This includes doing the boy's homework instantly and perfectly, teaching him how to play baseball through lifelike simulation, and giving him advice. Through a virtual date with the prettiest girl in class, Pollard learns to reconsider who he likes and why. The premise may be a bit hard for some readers to swallow; they never learn exactly how the computer program came into existence, and at times the insight and advice seem contrived. Some clever plotting holds the book together, however. The lessons Pollard learns are not always predictable, and a surprising twist toward the end, in which he reveals that his mother is not really dead, is quite powerful. Despite some uneven spots in the writing, the computer-driven plot offers an intriguing outlook on typical adolescent problems, and Pollard is a well-drawn character.?Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library, OR
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 4^-7. Rendal has created every child's fantasy--a computer that will do your homework, teach you how to play baseball, and even, in simulation, guide you through the thorny etiquette of the first date! Yet the underlying reason for eighth-grader Pollard's computer-assisted instruction is very real indeed: his refusal to accept his life since The Accident, a personal disaster that has left him without his mother, his dog, Gonzo, and hope. The artificial-intelligence-as-guidance-counselor works surprisingly well for Pollard and reader alike. Altlhough actually even more didactic than his human counterpart would ever be, Conner the computer lacks all empathy, or feeling as he calls it. However, with Connor's help, Pollard gradually accepts his situation and becomes better adjusted in school and with friends and family. This lively first-person story is an interesting, effective mix of science fiction, humor, and reality. Frances Bradburn

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060254041
• ISBN 13: 9780060254049
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224