Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780374534981)

Joshua Davis's Spare Parts--now a major motion picture--is a story about overcoming insurmountable odds and the young men who proved they were among the most patriotic and talented Americans in this country--even as the country tried to kick them out.

Four undocumented Mexican American students, two great teachers, one robot-building contest . . .

In 2004, four Latino teenagers arrived at the Marine Advanced Technology Education Robotics Competition at the University of California, Santa Barbara. They were born in Mexico but raised in Phoenix, Arizona, where they attended an underfunded public high school. No one had ever suggested to Oscar, Cristian, Luis, or Lorenzo that they might amount to much--but two inspiring science teachers had convinced these impoverished, undocumented kids from the desert who had never even seen the ocean that they should try to build an underwater robot.

And build a robot they did. Their robot wasn't pretty, especially compared to those of the competition. They were going up against some of the best collegiate engineers in the country, including a team from MIT backed by a $10,000 grant from ExxonMobil. The Phoenix teenagers had scraped together less than $1,000 and built their robot out of scavenged parts. This was never a level competition--and yet, against all odds . . . they won!

But this is just the beginning for these four, whose story--which became a key inspiration to the DREAMers movement--will go on to include first-generation college graduations, deportation, bean-picking in Mexico, and service in Afghanistan.

Finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize
New York Times Best Seller

Author: Joshua Davis
ISBN-10: 0374534985
ISBN-13: 9780374534981
Publisher: Fsg Originals
Language: English
Published: 12/02/2014
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.40w x 0.70d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.9
Point Value: 10
Interest Level: Middle Grade Plus
Quiz #/Name: 180664 / Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 10/06/2014 pg. 55
Kirkus Reviews 10/15/2014 pg. 80
Library Journal 11/01/2014 pg. 105
Booklist 11/15/2014 pg. 8