 | Jinxed (Jinxed) Author: McCulloch, Amy | |
| Price: $6.55 | ||
Summary:
After fourteen-year-old Lacey Chu repairs a highly advanced smartphone/robotic pet companion, or baku, called Jinx, the baku gets her into her dream school, Profectus, where she is exposed to dangerous secrets.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 5.40 Points: 12.0 Quiz: 506906 | Reading Counts Information: Interest Level: 3-5 Reading Level: 5.20 Points: 15.0 Quiz: 78033 | |
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 11/01/2019 Kid-genius Lacey Chu is determined to join the Profectus Academy of Science and Technology in her quest for a career developing bakus, robotic animal companions with the utility of a smartphone. A disappointing rejection seems to end her dream, until she comes upon a broken-down, black-cat baku named Jinx. After repairing it, her newfound “pet” somehow gets her into the school, and the mysteries grow from there. Readers will find in Lacey a lovable underdog with resourcefulness, imagination, and undeniable chutzpah. With her considerable skill, she’s a force to be reckoned with—one that even the looming, all-powerful Moncha Corp., creators of the baku, can’t predict. As Lacey unravels dark secrets, she learns the importance of loyalty, how to adjust to new friendships, and how far to pursue a dream that means hurting others along the way. McCulloch’s riveting tale will speak to children interested in STEM as well as any reader interested in intelligent, rapidly paced sf mysteries. - Copyright 2019 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 12/01/2019 Gr 3–7—Lacey Chu has been working her whole life toward being accepted to the elite Profectus Academy, a junior division of MonchaCorp, makers of the ubiquitous "baku" (part smartphone, part robotic pet). Admittance to the school comes with financial support, prestige, a guaranteed school-to-corporation pipeline job, and a top-level baku. Unfortunately, despite her expert fabrication skills, Lacey is rejected from Profectus, or is she? When she fixes a broken and abandoned baku, she finds herself on the fast track after all. Jinx, her found cat baku, is more than he seems. Unlike other bakus, he can think and act for himself, and he can connect deeply with his human partners. With Jinx at her side, Lacey quickly becomes embroiled in the school's Baku Battle culture (a science fair meets the "Hunger Games") and in the dangerous dark side of MonchaCorp. Marketed as the "Golden Compass for the digital age," this title doesn't have much in common with the "His Dark Materials" series beyond the animal companions—it's an exposition-heavy ode to capitalism that leans heavily on common tropes (a mysteriously missing parent, a broke kid at a fancy prep school, a school obsessed with gratuitous battle culture, a well-connected nemesis, and a cute older boy). An unquestioned admiration for start-up culture and tech monopolies is woven into the book's themes, although the evils of corporate competition are also addressed. But for all that it is an enjoyable read with just enough genuine friendship and suspense to draw readers in. The novel ends on a predictable cliffhanger, opening the door to sequels. VERDICT A thin but a fun read.—Katya Schapiro, Brooklyn Public Library - Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
