Molly and the Machine

May 1, 2022
Summer vacation 1983 is about to get a lot more exciting in Far Flung Falls, Ohio. Ever since her mom ran off with a mullet-haired, van-driving stranger, 11-year-old Molly McQuirter's depressed dad spends his time eating junk food and watching TV, leaving her to look after her nose-picking 8 1/2-year-old brother, Wally. Which is exactly how she doesn't want to spend her summer. Tinkering and inventing run in her family's blood, and when Wally won't leave her backyard Rube Goldberg machine alone, Molly banishes him to the wide-open space of the yard, where he is spotted by a giant robot and snatched up. Hopping on her tricked-out bike, Pink Lightning, she and her four-legged friends--dog Darryl, cat Crank, and chameleon Don Carlos--set off to rescue Wally. They are soon joined by neighborhood kids Arvin and Leonard and Molly's bootlegging, armadillo-owning, heavy metal-playing, motorcycle-riding Great-Uncle Clovis. Their adventures are filled with obstacles, but Molly brings all of her powers of invention and ingenuity to the rescue mission. The 1980s slang and pop-culture references keep readers firmly planted in the decade, and, as expected from the Cold War-era setting, fear of the Soviet Union is a recurring theme. The amusing tone and toilet humor sprinkled throughout will appeal to young readers. The characters present as White. A delightful adventure with a nostalgic twist. (Adventure. 8-12)

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June 1, 2022
Grades 4-6 Life hasn't been easy for Molly since her mother's death. Her father, depressed and listless, expects her to look after Wally, her younger brother. One day, she's entertaining him with her secret project--a large Rube Goldberg-inspired catapult--when a 10-story-tall robot arrives, picks up Wally, and deposits him in its mouth. Molly and her classmates Arvin and Leonard chase the metallic monster on their bikes through the woods and bravely follow Wally into the robot, hoping to rescue him. The pace shifts at intervals throughout the book; like a roller coaster, the narrative starts off slowly as Slangerup introduces Molly, her family, and the boys, but the story speeds up considerably when the kidnapping of Wally sends Molly, her friends, and her beloved but impulsive great uncle hurtling headlong into action. Set in southern Ohio during the 1980s, the story includes a number of cultural references from the period. While the book's humor relies heavily on Wally's nose picking, robot fans looking for action stories will find plenty to entertain them in Slangerup's first novel.

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July 1, 2022

Gr 3-6-The summer after fourth grade is not shaping up to be a very good one for Molly McQuirter. Her dad has completely turned into a couch potato and constantly expects her to occupy her annoying younger brother Wally, even when she has amazing things planned such as testing her Rube Goldberg machine. Things take a serious twist when a giant robot comes along and swallows Wally up. Something in Molly snaps as she takes off on her souped-up pink bicycle, her prized possession, and the only nice thing she has, to get him back. She faces danger at every turn and must use her considerable ingenuity to face challenges and manage the menagerie of pets and people drawn to her that want to help along the way. Chapters are told from various points of view, although most focus on Molly. The characters, kids and adults alike, are often dealing with the pain of being let down or left by someone who was supposed to care for them. Molly is cued as white. VERDICT A plot-driven, farfetched, romp with a dose of fun 1980s nostalgia that will appeal to readers who want to go along for the ride.-Erin Wyatt

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 22, 2022
In his middle grade debut, Slangerup delivers a STEM-themed romp bursting with hand-built tech and 1980s nostalgia. In 1983, 11-year-old inventor Molly McQuirter expects to spend a lonely, rural Ohio summer tinkering with her massive Rube Goldberg machine and reluctantly caring for her nose-picking younger brother, Wally, whom she blames for their mother’s leaving, while the “dad-shaped shell” of her father wallows in front of the television. But when a giant robot abducts Wally from their backyard, Molly loads her bike with fluffernutter sandwiches, gadgetry, and assorted family pets to hunt what she suspects is a Soviet invention. Joined by an arcade-whiz schoolmate and her idiosyncratic great-uncle, whose inventions look “like something out of an old, low-budget sci-fi movie,” Molly traverses the hazardous woods to rescue Wally. While the omniscient narration focuses primarily on Molly, Slangerup complicates the story and heightens comedy by occasionally following other perspectives, including the family dog’s. On-the-nose emotional revelations limit the novel’s thematic resonance, but slapstick and toilet humor drive a riotous adventure that’s well calibrated to the audience’s sensibilities. Characters cue as white; an author’s note concludes. Ages 8–12. Agent: Elizabeth Rudnick, Mackenzie Wolf.