Mega Robo Bros (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

Neill Cameron is a cartoonist and writer, creator of How to Make Awesome Comics. Since 2011 his work has appeared in the weekly children's comic The Phoenix, where he produces - amongst other things - the robotic soap opera comedy Mega Robo Bros, and (with artist Kate Brown) the Cornish-set fantasy drama Tamsin and the Deep. Neill is also currently artist in residence at The Story Museum in Oxford, where he has contributed several large-scale comic strip installations and is involved in comics-based education and activities.
You can find him online at http: //www.neillcameron.com.

Gr 4–6—Robot brothers Alex and Freddy Sharma live in a futuristic London with their adoptive human parents. While the siblings are close, they often bicker and have a hard time staying out of trouble. They are superstrong and fast, but their parents, especially their scientist mother, insist on keeping their powers secret for as long as possible. An evil robot, built in the same mysterious facility as Alex and Freddy, starts wreaking havoc, and Alex, the oldest, is recruited by his mother's company to fight. Though goofy Freddy is less mature than his big brother, the two must work together to save the day. This tale immerses readers in a fascinating world filled with flying double decker buses, robotic dinosaurs and palace guards, a philosophical penguin, and a diverse human cast of characters. Yellow, purple, and blue background colors are striking. Alex and Freddy are distinguished by the coloring of their robotic heads and their facial expressions, as well as by their height and personality differences. The small font of the speech bubble text may take readers a few pages to get used to, but fun characters and a compelling story will keep them engaged. VERDICT A solid addition to middle grade graphic novel collections.—Marissa Lieberman, East Orange Public Library, NJ