Whether your preteen is a total bookworm or just starting to dip their toes into the wonderful world of reading, The Girl and the Robot is the perfect story to add to their lineup. Co-written by Emmy Award-winner Oz Rodriguez and best-selling author Claribel A. Ortega, The Girl and the Robot follows Mimi Perez, an inquisitive girl who’s grown up helping her dad at the family e-repair shop in Brooklyn. But when her father is deported, Mimi’s life as she knows it changes. Another development that wasn’t on her radar? The mysterious robot that crashes to earth from space, leaving Mimi to take it home, fix it up, and make a new friend in the process (even as they’re both chased by federal agents who want to keep the whole thing under wraps).

Part sci-fi adventure and part coming-of-age tale, The Girl and the Robot is an ode to kids in STEM, first-generation communities, and the power of friendship to conquer all.