Cheesie Mack Is Cool in a Duel by Steve Cotler

Author:Steve Cotler [Cotler, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-375-89571-5
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2012-06-26T04:00:00+00:00

This time it worked. When I woke up I had thought of something really cool to do during robotics, which was going to be our morning activity.

I bet you’re wondering, Robotics? At summer camp?

Yep. This was our first year doing it, and it’s great. And best of all, robotics at Camp Windward was actually my idea!

I got the idea last Thanksgiving. My whole family, including my mom’s parents, Gumpy and Meemo, was at my house chowing down on the stuffing and stuff (that’s my shortcut way to describe our huge Thanksgiving dinner). I can’t remember the conversation exactly, but it was something like this.

Granpa (complaining): I got a big problem next summer.

Dad (chewing): What’s that, Pop?

Granpa (waving a turkey leg): Crafts. Lots of kids are just plain bored with pottery and painting. And none of them like making take-home gewgaws out of pinecones and twigs. I need to come up with something better.

Gumpy (leaning back in his chair): I’m not surprised, Bud. Today’s kids are electronically knowledgeable, twenty-first century all the way. Perhaps they see woodcrafts as irrelevant in their lives.

Granpa (a bit louder): Well, we’re not getting more computers. We’ve got plenty. The kids get all the Internet and email they need.

Me (cheerily): How about building and programming robots?

Goon (snottily): Stupid idea. That would cost millions more than even computers.

I paid no attention to Goon and explained about my robotics club at Rocky Neck Elementary School (I was still in fifth grade then). Our after-school club built little cars that could be programmed to drive over and around obstacles. Gumpy was very interested, but Granpa barely paid attention until I told him my teacher said the equipment wasn’t expensive.

(If you want to see what we did in my fifth-grade robotics club, go to the robotics page on my website.)

Since this was the first year for robotics at camp, only a few of my bunk mates knew much about it. So Lindermann divided us into four teams of four each, with the most experienced boys—me, Georgie, Ethan Rhee, and Zip Matthews—as leaders. (Zip’s real name is Isaac, but because he is famous for being the slowest guy in every race, he got a zippy nickname.)

The object was to build a robot car and program it to go through a tabletop obstacle course in the shortest time. It would have been total fun if Lindermann hadn’t put both Kevin and Ty on my team (also Alfie Bickelman, who is excellent at swimming and sailing, but not much interested in robotics).

“Build it yourself, Nerd Boy,” Kevin muttered, pulling a comic book out of his back pocket. Ty sat down next to him.

All the teams got busy building and programming their robot cars. A half hour later, Alfie and I had almost finished putting our team’s car together.

“We’re missing a wheel,” Alfie said.

I looked all around. “We definitely had four when we started,” I said.

“Use three,” Kevin said without looking up from his comic book. “A tricycle would be perfect for you.”

Alfie got on his hands and knees, searching everywhere.

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