First published 1966
Tommy Pumpkinhead lives in complete comfort inside his electric house. Every morning, his bed hoists him to the ceiling and drops him into his bath. A chute delivers him to his clothes. An eating machine feeds him breakfast without any effort on his part. Tommy has grown lazy from this automated lifestyle, letting the house handle every basic task. Then the electricity fails. His mechanical servants stop working. The bed won't lift him. The eating machine goes silent. The chutes don't operate. Tommy must suddenly fend for himself in ways he has never experienced. He struggles with the simplest activities that his house once performed automatically. Through this jarring disruption, Tommy discovers how dependent he has become on his electric conveniences. The power outage forces him to confront his own helplessness and recognize the need for change.
Genres: fiction, science-fiction, technology
Vibes: thought-provoking, whimsical
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, helpless-protagonist
32 pages · Library Binding · HarperCollins