E-Boy: Superhuman army by Anh Do

The fifth book in the series, this story continues the adventures of Ethan, a boy who has gained some extraordinary mental powers during an operation to remove a brain tumour, and the astonishing android, Gemini, who performed his operation.  Ethan, Penny (Gemini’s handler), and Gemini embark on a perilous mission to stop the mythical Grapes of Atlantis, which provide Gemini’s power, from getting into the wrong hands. The tiny powerful crystals have come out of their hiding place and the heroes must find them and replace them deep in an underwater cave before they are taken and used for the wrong purposes, such as powering a superhuman army to take over the world. Other titles in the series that started with E-Boy are Robofight, Enter the Jungle, and New Gemini.

Robots and Artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming popular topics of conversation among many in the science world and this story shows how we imagine they could be used to assist humans to keep us all safe and the dangers they could create if used for unscrupulous purposes.  This book has plenty of action with a story that will engage some of the most reluctant readers.  The strange monsters, nasty bad guys wanting to take over the world and conquering heroes all serve to make these stories highly accessible to a wide audience in upper primary and lower secondary schools.

Themes: Robots, Androids, Villians, Science fiction, Artificial intelligence..

Gabrielle Anderson