Book excerpt: A prescient and humorous tale of a boy's futuristic life gone haywire with the interruption of ... nature. GO BACK TO YOUR CLASS, says the MiniMachine. The brightly moving thing flutters into Arno's hand. It feels warm. Attached to a foot is a label, reading: BIRD. Two hundred years in the future, Arno's pre-programmed, machine-controlled day takes an unexpected turn when nature intercedes. Arno wakes each morning when his personalized "MiniMachine" tells him it's time. The MiniMachine squawks at him all day: "Eat your Instant Mealtime," "Wait for the school jet," "Go to your electric tuba lesson," "Do not step off the Power Path"..... But Arno's curiosity and a little yellow bird lead Arno off his pre-programmed track. "Go Back to Your Class!" squawks the MiniMachine with increasing alarm. Arno's mischievousness will delight young readers. And Seymour Chwast's illustrations, including his Seuss-like mechanical inventions, are both charmingly old-fashioned and presciently futuristic. A gentle corrective to our infatuation with electronics, Arno and the MiniMachine is a sweet reminder of the joy of nature and following one's own path.