HOW TO MAKE A FRIEND

An amusing self-help manual on building robots—and friendships.

“Making a friend can seem like a scary, impossible task. But trust me—with the right power tools and a basic understanding of Advanced Robotics, it’s easy!” A smiling kid with a black bob and safety goggles hauls around sheet metal, cables, and a blow torch in preparation for a friendship-construction project. Guiding the little engineer is a book from the library, a How To Make a Friend manual with a retro color scheme and illustrations, which provide snippets of wisdom as the text of the book. The visuals feel like a 1970s cartoon, jaunty and geometric, creating an upbeat vibe from which one can almost hear the silly sound effects. The kid’s parents peek into the bedroom as the protagonist hides a chunk of plutonium from them. With deadpan delivery, Martin’s humor is well balanced and fast paced, and it has at its core some very real advice accompanying the exuberant visuals. Friendships can ebb and flow, and there are times when one should walk away from a relationship, especially if the friend starts hanging around with the wrong crowd—that could destroy the city! The technically savvy young protagonist proves to be a smart problem-solver, finding more than just books at the library. Both kid and parents are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

So entertaining that the good advice slips right in.