PotsandPlots

Troofriend was first published in 2020 and has been republished by Nosy Crow in 2026. With AI on the rise, Sam Altman making stupid comments about using it to raise your children, and the success of the BBC sitcom Ann Droid, it feels like the perfect time for Troofriend to reappear on bookshelves.

Growing Information:

Plant With: Children’s Fiction, Friendship, AI

Grows Into: A gentle examination of what it means to be human.

Rating: Vibrant Annual 🌻🌻 (Check here for rating information.)

Available now in paperback (affiliate link).

The Review:

I first encountered Kirsty Applebaum last year when I reviewed the excellent The Strange Disappearance of Imogen Good. It was one of my favourite children’s books of 2025. Troofriend isn’t quite as strong as Imogen Good, but they definitely share DNA in their themes of friendship and being true to yourself.

Troofriend also, perhaps ironically, shares DNA with Ann Droid, though the latter is significantly ruder than Troofriend, and probably doesn’t share much overlap in intended audience. The two, however, both use, to comic effect, the fact that computers and androids take instructions very literally. They also both examine how much of human communication is idiomatic and context-sensitive.

The Troofriend in Troofriend is a robot for children. A friend for them to play with, who won’t hurt or bully them and will prevent your child from doing anything dangerous.

“I am Troofriend. I do not harm. I do not lie.”

A strong strand of the novel explores whether some level of adversity/rebellion is important for growing up. The setting and testing of boundaries. The forging of real relationships that have competing needs. An overlooked aspect of AI language models is how easy and gratifying it is to have them tell you what you want to hear, offering no friction to the story you tell it. Troofriend asks how much a child should be insulated from the realities of the world?

Much like Sam Altman’s ridiculous podcasts, Troofriend is used by Sarah’s parents to avoid doing any real parenting. They cannot be present due to “very important” work, and so they try to outsource it to AI. This soul-sucking corporate grinder sits at the heart of Troofriend.

The other, slightly underexplored aspect of Troofriend, is the question of “At what point does something become real?” It’s the driving force of the novel, and Applebaum poses many questions, which are largely left unanswered, but perhaps that’s okay.

Troofriend’s readers are left to ponder existential and ethical questions about the nature of artificial life, meaning many of the book’s themes will percolate and linger long after it’s been put down.

The ending of Troofriend is satisfying. Sarah learns about her limitations and her strengths. We see the importance of forming friendships, as well as the value of caring for things that are different to us. There’s an exciting caper centred around rescuing Sarah’s robot, too. Troofriend is a strong book for middle-grade readers that will prompt them to think about the world in which they live and the technology they use.