The Homework Machine

Sam Dawkins (a fifth grader) introduces himself and explains his nickname, “Snik.” Snik is short for Snikwad, which is his last name backward. Snik’s father is in the air force, which is why his family moved to Arizona (he insists he was not kicked out of his last school). Snik tells the sequence of events leading up to their police interviews from his perspective, starting from the first day of school.

Snik is self-conscious as the new kid in Miss Rasmussen’s class on the first day of school. He quickly identifies the “clueless dweebs, pre-jock idiots, losers, brown-nosers and bullies” (8), but he can’t place Brenton, who says the “weirdest stuff” (9). Snik notes that Brenton doesn’t make any effort to be cool. Snik assesses the other students at his table: “Judy: stuck-up. Kelsey: a loser. Brenton: mutant dork from another planet. I was the only cool one” (15).

Snik’s defense for what they did is that “[o]ur brains aren’t fully formed yet” (12). He admits that he is “antihomework,” explaining that kids’ brains need to rest (with TV or video games) after a long school day. When Mrs. Rasmussen gives the class a worksheet outlining “The Ten Commandments of Homework” (17) and asks them to write their feelings, Snik brashly answers each “commandment”—for example, “We’re entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. So how can I pursue happiness if I have to spend every night doing homework?” (19), and “Virtually every known murderer, bank robber, and criminal did homework when they were children. How can we be sure that homework didn’t cause the criminal behavior?” (20). Snik gets a B for creativity.

Snik explains that he finds out about the homework machine when he accuses Brenton of spending all his free time doing homework. Brenton replies that he spends no time doing homework. Curious, Snik questions Brenton: Does he have an older sibling? Brenton says that he invented a machine that does all his homework.

Kelsey Donnelly is reluctant to give a statement. She says she is sorry, and they were “just having a little fun and it got out of hand” (4) and asks to leave. Kelsey describes Brenton as a dork and an academic genius who is clueless about fashion and trends. She appreciates being at Brenton’s table because he lets her copy his work. Kelsey admits that she hates homework but does it because the thought of repeating a grade is worse.

Judy Douglas is an honest, straight-A student who is in the gifted and talented program. She stresses that she would never break the law but that things got out of control. Judy panics that this incident will affect her ability to get into law school. Judy shares that her first impression of Mrs. Rasmussen was that she might be too inexperienced. Judy has been in Brenton’s class since first grade and is in awe of his “natural intelligence” but notes that he has no friends. She claims that Brenton is the only person who is smarter than she is. She also thinks he is “pretty good looking” (9) (but combs his hair “in a really weird way” [8-9]). Judy dislikes Snik’s long hair and finds him “smart-alecky” and “stupid.” Judy, who cares “so much about everything” (15) is bothered by Kelsey, who doesn’t seem to care about anything. Judy admits that she enjoys homework.

Judy’s family is African American, and her mother—who narrates a short portion—initially worries that discrimination is involved. However, as the facts unfold, Judy’s mother sees that Judy “and the others just did a dumb thing and they got caught” (6).

Brenton Damagatchi compares life to dominoes: “The way your life plays out depends on which dominoes you choose to push over and which ones you leave alone. In this case, we pushed over the wrong domino” (6). Brenton addresses the concept of being cool and explains that he doesn’t believe people can become cool by following trends, and that he is cool with being uncool, joking that he serves a purpose by providing someone to make fun of. Brenton doesn’t care where he sits and doesn’t bother to make friends with classmates. His table mates ignore him, and he is fine with that. He shares that he was thinking of starting an “Antisocial Club.” Brenton admits he made a mistake by telling Snik about his homework machine, but he didn’t appreciate Snik’s snide comments. Brenton tells the police, “I accept full responsibility” (24).

Miss Rasmussen, fifth-grade teacher and nature lover, is excited that her first teaching job is right by the Grand Canyon, in a school that goes from kindergarten to 12th grade. She explains in her report that she arranges her classroom into small groups of students, chosen alphabetically. Brenton, Kelsey, Judy, and Sam all have last names that start with D, so they are the “D Squad.” Miss Rasmussen notes that Judy seems studious; Kelsey doesn’t “appear to like school” (13); Sam—being new—initially has difficulty adjusting, and Brenton is “different” (13). Miss Rasmussen doesn’t believe in too much homework and feels that she assigns interesting projects that are fun and not difficult.

Brenton’s mom explains that Brenton has always been “different.” He never cried as a baby and spoke very early. He preferred to play chess by himself than watch TV, and taught himself the piano, writing a concerto at age six.

Sam’s mom explains that they moved around a lot because her husband was in the air force. Sam was suspended from his last school, where he refused to do his homework or get a haircut, so his mom and dad agreed to let him grow his hair, as long as he does his homework.

Judy overhears Brenton and Snik talking about the homework machine and resists the urge to tell Miss Rasmussen. Snik keeps pestering Brenton, so Judy tells Snik to stop being mean. Judy is curious about Brenton’s homework machine, so she agrees to go to his house after school. Judy likes Brenton’s mom and his house and feels sorry for Brenton when his homework machine simply answers 2 + 2 = 4. She thinks it is something he made up to try to make friends. When Brenton puts their solar system homework into the machine’s scanner and nothing happens, Judy feels embarrassed for Brenton and says she should be getting home. She “didn’t want to see him fail” (36). The machine eventually prints out the homework sheet, correctly filled out in Brenton’s handwriting. Judy is stunned and feels like she is “witnessing a history-making event” (44).

Kelsey is not surprised that Brenton could invent a homework machine and tells Snik to stop teasing him. She agrees to ride her bike with the other three over to Brenton’s house to see the machine because she has nothing else going on. Kelsey watches as Brenton writes 2 + 2 = on a piece of paper and scans it. The answer prints out, 2 + 2 = 4. When Brenton scans their homework and types something into his computer, Kelsey joins in with eye rolls behind Brenton’s back and tries not to laugh. When the completed homework prints out, Kelsey thinks it must be a trick before realizing the machine is real. Kelsey says, “It was cool. Definitely cool” (45).

Brenton regrets telling Snik about his machine and says that he never intended to show it to anyone. However, when Snik calls Brenton a “liar and a fake” (28) he tells them to come to his house and see for themselves. Snik takes offense at a “War is not the answer” (30) sticker on Brenton’s bedroom door. Brenton tries to explain that you can “support the military and at the same time be against war” (31), but Snik seems to get angry and emotional, so Brenton drops the subject. Brenton assumes that his tablemates will understand the concept when he demonstrates his machine with the simple math problem, 2 + 2, but they don’t—so he scans their science homework sheet. He explains that he made the machine so that he could have more time to study “psychology, physics, and medicine. I hope to find a cure for spinal-cord injuries someday” (39). When the police ask Brenton whether he used the homework machine to design the complicated catapult he made for a homework assignment, he says no, he would never use the machine for something fun like that. Brenton explains how the machine works: the scanner feeds the question into the computer. If the information is not on the computer, the computer scans the internet, cross-checking websites to confirm the information is accurate and compiles the answers. Brenton says the hardest part was designing the software to create a typeface that mimics his handwriting. Brenton shares something that he never told anyone: Soon after creating the homework machine, he received an email from a stranger, R. Milner, asking to meet him. Brenton ignored the message.

Snik tells Brenton to “[p]ut up or shut up” (27) when Brenton tells him about his homework machine. Snik comments that Brenton looks like he might cry. Snik thinks Brenton’s room is “weird” because there is a poster of Leonardo DaVinci rather than posters of athletes or rock bands. Snik spots an antiwar sticker, which angers him since his father is in the military, so he calls Brenton “a hippie and a commie” (30). When Brenton’s computer prints out the answer 2 + 2 = 4, Snik laughs and calls the machine a joke and a “piece of junk” (32), planning how he’ll tell everyone at school. However, Snik is amazed when Brenton puts in their homework and the machine prints out the correct answers. He hates homework and thinks Brenton’s machine might be the “answer to all my prayers” (44). He also reassesses his opinion of Brenton and thinks he might want to hang out with him.

Brenton’s mom is surprised and thrilled when Judy, Snik, and Kelsey come home with Brenton after school. She can’t remember the last time he had a friend over. Brenton’s mom makes cinnamon rolls and takes them up to Brenton’s room. Despite wanting to stay and chat, she senses that the group wants to be alone.

Miss Rasmussen acknowledges that Brenton is not challenged enough at their school and that she could tell he was sometimes bored. She recalls the “special project” where she asked students to design a catapult. Most students made cute catapults out of Popsicle sticks, spoons, and rubber bands, but Brenton’s was as big as a desk—fully equipped with ropes, springs, pulleys and a computer chip for accurate aiming. Miss Rasmussen was impressed and assumed that Brenton’s father had helped him. However, Mr. Damagatchi told Miss Rasmussen that he didn’t even know that Brenton had made a catapult.