48 pages • 1 hour read
Eve L. Ewing, Illustr. Christine AlmedaMaya and the Robot
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 5-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5 Summary: “Meet Ralph”
Mr. Mac comes running in to protect Maya from whatever made her scream. When he sees the face that startled her, he begins to laugh hysterically. Maya is still unsure what the face is, so Mr. Mac clears a path towards it and introduces her to Ralph, a robot. Ralph’s head is shaped like an upside-down bucket, has shiny circles for eyes, and an LED panel for a mouth. His body is barrel-shaped and contains a number of gauges and buttons, and his arms are made of lots of tiny hinges so that they can bend flexibly. At the end of his arms are three-fingered hands that have the ability to grip things, and his feet are made of treads so that he can navigate bumpy ground with no problems.
Maya is amazed by the robot and asks Mr. Mac who made it. After a moment of silence, he explains that his son, Christopher, made it as a side project while he was in school because he was lonely. He reveals that Christopher went to Stanford. Maya is even more impressed, as she is obsessed with Stanford and the other big tech universities and hopes to go to one day. She asks how to turn it on, but Mr. Mac isn’t even sure if Ralph was ever finished. Maya finds Christopher’s old notebook and hands it to Mr. Mac, who is astonished at what his son was able to do. When it is time for Maya to leave, Mr. Mac asks her if she would like to take Ralph home with her because she loves science so much and reminds him of his son. She immediately says yes.
Chapter 6 Summary: “The Best Science Fair Ever”
Mr. Mac helps Maya transport Ralph to her home using a dolly from his store. While he locks up, Maya enjoys looking around the neighborhood, which is bathed in the red-orange light of the setting sun. She recognizes many of her neighbors and has a nice story or memory with each of them. As they near her home, Maya begins to worry that her mom won’t let her keep Ralph. Her mom opens the door to greet Mr. Mac and is momentarily rendered speechless by the sight of the robot. Maya uses the opportunity to launch into a very fast explanation of what Ralph is and why she should be allowed to keep him. Maya’s mom checks that it is okay with Mr. Mac, and he assures her that it is safe and that he thinks Maya could learn something from tinkering with it. Maya’s mom acquiesces—Maya now has her very own robot.
Maya has difficulty focusing during school the next day. All she can think about is getting home so that she can start digging into Christopher’s old notebook and tinkering with Ralph. She’s snapped back to the present by the revelation that her class will be attending an information session on the school’s science fair. This excites her, as it’s something she has been anticipating since she started school and is finally old enough to participate. She can’t wait to show everyone what a great scientist she is. Once her class reaches the auditorium, she notices Ms. Montogomery's class is there too and hopes that she’ll be able to sit near Jada and MJ so that she can tell them about Ralph. She even starts to plan a day for them to come over after school so they can tinker with him together.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Hustle”
After school, Maya’s dad is there to pick her up and take her on an “adventure.” He does this once a week, and the adventures are really just after school activities ranging from going to the playground to exploring a forest on the outskirts of town. Afterwards, they always go to the Cozy Corner Diner to have a pancake dinner. It is always one of Maya’s favorite days of the week. This time, they’re heading to the library to attend a free workshop on 3D printers.
On the way, Maya’s dad asks her about working for Mr. Mac and tells her that Mr. Mac has always been a hustler—somebody who knows how to make something out of nothing. He tells her about how Mr. Mac used to sell things out of a van before he had his store, and that he is glad Maya is working for him because she can learn lots. Maya then tells her dad about the robot and asks him about Christopher. Like Mr. Mac, her dad goes silent upon hearing the name and doesn’t respond for some time. He tries to change the subject, but Maya doesn’t let him. Eventually her dad explains that it is a tough conversation that he isn’t ready to have with her yet, and that it is also Mr. Mac’s business to tell, not his. Maya accepts this answer and reflects that she and her father had a mature conversation.
That night, Maya finally digs into Christopher’s old notebooks and is instantly mesmerized. She can’t believe how smart and inventive he is, and she feels like she is getting direct access to his thoughts, as if she is reading a diary. The writing is tidy and color-coded, and it is organized by headings written in capital letters and very detailed. Maya learns something on every page, despite the fact there are lots of words she doesn't know and must look up. There are lots of notes about Ralph and how he is supposed to work, but it is much more difficult than the type of science she is used to. Her school science experiments come with lists of supplies and ordered steps to follow, but this is not like that. It is also incomplete. One of the biggest issues revolves around the need for a power source. There is a note about a triple-Z battery, but Maya isn’t sure what this is or where she could get one. Maya feels disappointed that she won't be able to just get the robot up and working like she thought. Her feelings of disappointment are cut short, however, by the revelation that her Auntie Lou has tickets for the museum that weekend and wants to take Maya with her.
Chapter 8 Summary: “High Five, Maya”
Maya goes to the museum with her aunt and younger brother, Amir. They visit an exhibit called the Power of Power, and Maya wanders around looking at the displays. A few minutes later, a museum employee named Kai begins a demonstration. He has an array of batteries in front of him and asks if anyone can name them all. After a teenage boy fails, Maya is able to name all five batteries including the hardest one to identify, the Baghdad battery, which she had just learned about by reading one of the displays in the exhibit. Amir begins to act up, so Maya’s aunt takes them away from the exhibit, but before they leave, Kai asks them to stick around so he can give Maya something. Once his demonstration is over, he tells Maya that she is the first person to ever get all the batteries correct and gives her a gift card for the museum gift store. Before he leaves for his break, Maya asks him if he’s ever heard of a triple-Z battery, and Kai reveals they actually have one in the back. He takes Maya to see it, and even offers it to her, since the museum has just got a new replacement. Maya cannot believe her luck.
At home, Maya pores over Christopher’s notebook again, looking for a way to install the battery. She figures out how to open the back of Ralph and begins looking inside. She recognizes many of the parts inside—wires, resistors, LEDs—and the parts she doesn't recognize she looks up in one of her books on electronics. She soon figures out how to attach the battery and slides it into place. Ralph immediately powers on, and Maya loudly cheers and dances around her room. Ralph initiates his introductory sequence and asks for the primary user’s name. After telling Ralph her name is Maya, Ralph explains that he responds to voice commands and that the activation keyword is “Ralph”—this ensures that he only responds to direct commands and isn’t confused by random conversations and background noise around him. Maya begins giving him simple commands like giving her a high five and picking up cardboard. He doesn’t know what cardboard is at first, but quickly learns after Maya shows him. Maya then asks him if he can smile, which he confirms as the LED strip that forms his mouth turns into a smile.
Maya is incredibly excited and wants to tell everyone about Ralph, but the thought of Jada and MJ makes her sad. She wonders when she will be able to tell them and if they’ll even care. She begins to feel lonely again, and without thinking, asks Ralph if he can be her friend. Ralph responds by reaching out to touch her and repeating the question.
Chapter 5-8 Analysis
There is a dual symbolism in Maya finding Ralph hidden away in a messy closet of Mr. Mac’s store. On one level, this is exactly what Mr. Mac has done with the memories of his lost son: he has buried them away to avoid thinking about them because it is too painful to do so. On another level, it is significant that Maya is the one to find the robot. She reminds Mr. Mac of Christopher, and this connection catalyzes the emotional healing process with those buried memories. Her brightness, ingenuity, and kindness make Mr. Mac realize that the memories do not have to be solely painful, and the coming together of Maya and Ralph ultimately demonstrates that Christopher’s spirit continues to have a positive impact on the world.
However, for all the laughter and excitement that the discovery of Ralph brings, there are several hints of tragedy throughout these chapters. When Christopher is first mentioned, Mr. Mac “look[s] very seriously back at [Maya] and [doesn't] answer right away” (49). Likewise, when Maya mentions Christopher to her dad, his hands tighten around the steering wheel, and he goes quiet for a long moment before trying to change the subject. Significantly, Maya doesn’t let the issue go, and her father eventually explains that it is a tough situation and not his business to tell her. These interactions suggest that there is something tragic or traumatic about Christopher that Mr. Mac doesn’t want to face yet, but the fact that she continues to push at the seams speaks to the important role she plays in providing Mr. Mac with the push he needs to find his emotional strength.
As much as Maya helps Mr. Mac with the memory of Christopher, the memory of Christopher is just as important to her. When Maya discovers Ralph and becomes connected to Christopher through his notebook, Maya is both lonely and lacking self-confidence. Christopher helps with both problems. Reading the notebook and working on Ralph provides her with a sense of belonging and an almost-friendship that feels comfortable and accessible to her. In Christopher, she sees a lot of herself: he is smart, interested in science, a little different from most other people, and dedicated to the idea of helping others. Maya mentions that reading Christopher’s notebook gave her “the feeling that [she] was reading his diary” (73), and this connection to another person she empathizes with makes her feel less isolated. Just as importantly, she sees a lot of what she wants to be in Christopher because he was incredibly smart and went to Stanford. Having a role model who comes from the same place and who has so many similarities is equally important in Maya’s journey to gain confidence and belief in herself. Just as with her (accidental) one-sided relationship with Mr. Mac, Maya again finds solace in the comfort of a friendship that requires little discomfort and assimilation in a time when her true friends are distant.
Learning how she can get Ralph up and running also brings Maya The Joys of Scientific Discovery. This process turns out to be much more difficult than she originally planned, as this lacks the simplicity and guidance she is accustomed to with school science experiments. This initially frustrates Maya, but she quickly begins to thrive in the open-ended possibilities of “real-life science” (76). She finds joy poring over Christopher’s notes, each one taking her down a new path of learning as she is forced to look up words and concepts she’s unfamiliar with. She consults other books that she has read and begins connecting the dots and figuring things out. When she goes to the museum, she reads exhibits by herself and then applies her recent knowledge during the presentation. As the novel progresses, she builds her confidence and feels more and more like a real scientist, but importantly, it is the process she enjoys, not just the end result. This is most evident once she gets Ralph working, which ends up being just the beginning. Answers always lead to new lines of inquiry because there is always a deeper level of understanding she can achieve.
While Maya is incredibly independent in her ability to problem solve, she could not do a lot of these things without her family being so supportive. Her mom, dad, and aunt are always providing her with opportunities to learn and push herself, whether that is in the form of trips to the museum with her aunt, where she ends up finding the triple-Z battery that she needs to power Ralph, or her mom letting her keep Ralph at home initially. Her dad is equally as supportive, as he takes her on “adventures” once a week that are often educational, or at the very least, intellectually stimulating. Ewing establishes that Maya has a strong support system in her family, Mr. Mac, and the community as she navigates the crossroads in her friendship with Jada and MJ.
