The Homework Machine

The Homework Machine is the first book of a two-part series. The second book, The Return of The Homework Machine, brings the D Squad back together when Brenton realizes that the chip he developed to make Belch, his homework machine, was never destroyed and has fallen into the wrong hands. The Return of the Homework Machine is written in the same multi-perspective style as The Homework Machine. Like The Homework Machine, the Return of The Homework Machine uses police recordings of the characters’ recollection of events to tell the narrative in multiple distinct voices. The characters’ viewpoints, language, and tone give them dimension without the author having to describe them. Gutman’s books address complex moral issues, such as cheating, lying, and bigotry, but his use of humor and relatable writing style make the books accessible and fun rather than preachy.

Before becoming a renowned author, Dan Gutman studied psychology at Rutgers University and later became an expert in computers after starting a video games magazine, Computer Games (originally called Video Games Player). Both psychology and computers feature heavily in Gutman’s Homework Machine novels.

Interestingly, media’s ability to influence people’s buying decisions—which Milner in The Homework Machine does for a job—was evident when sales of Dan Gutman’s 1996 novel The Kid Who Ran for President shot up in 2016 following a short section in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in which satirical comedian Oliver compares the book to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign (Schneider, Michael.