"Recycle and create." That's Tinker's motto. He's an inventor, who lives with his uncle and cousins on planet Kitz. The Invention Institute is having a Recycle Race to choose a new apprentice for their boarding school for young inventors. Tinker builds an airbike for the contest. When Tinker's cruel cousins destroy it, a robot dog helps Tinker fix his entry in time to compete.

This advanced chapter book for young readers is the first in a series by Jill Williamson and her son Luke. The two came up with the idea when Luke was in fourth grade and working on fractured fairy tales in school. "What if we wrote some fairy tales for boys and set them in outer space?" they said. "And what kid doesn't love a robot dog?"