House of Robots by James Patterson

Here is another "highly illustrated" novel by James Patterson.  Sammy has a crazy home life.  His father is a comic book author and his mother is a robotics expert.  Sammy tolerates the teasing he gets about his unusual parents, until one day when his mom wants to send one of her robots to school with him as his "robot brother." At first Sammy is mortified, and wants nothing to do with this science experiment, especially when "E" has a very public melt-down.  After the first disastrous day his mom does some adjustments on "E" and Sammy starts to get used to having his "bro-bot" around. "E" is smart, strong and funny.  Most of the other kids like "E" as well, but not everyone is glad to have him at school. Sammy's story is illustrated throughout with line drawings reminiscent of  Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Patterson includes plenty of silliness, especially at Sammy's house which is filled with a whole cast of whacky robots.  There is a touch of tenderness, too, in Sammy's relationship with his home-bound sister. Patterson proves, once again, that he (or his team of ghost writers) knows how to write what school-age kids like to read. (316 p)