I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into with this one, and it was different from what I expected, but I enjoyed it all the same. It was about a robot, an "Artificial Friend," who is adopted by a girl and taken home to be her companion. The robot has to learn how to help and befriend this young girl and understand the moods and variations of being a human, and it's fun to see that from a robot's eyes. The book is narrated by the robot herself, and there are some things that she has decided or gleaned that aren't correct. The main incorrect belief she has is that the Sun is basically a god who gives power and healing to people--which is true for an AF because she is solar powered, but not to humans. But she has this all-powerful faith in the power of the sun as a good, loving god, and I thought that was the most interesting part of this book. I read a few negative reviews criticizing this book not for doing more interesting or innovative things with the artificial intelligence part of this story, but I didn't think that was really the point of this book. I thought it was more about how we have faith in things we can't see and don't understand, and sometimes our faith is misguided and sometimes it's true, and sometimes things work out the way we hope they will and sometimes they don't. I loved the depiction of Klara and her faith, and how she didn't give up even when nobody else believed in her. The story was gripping and definitely fun to read.
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