Transformers: Bumblebee: The Junior Novel

**t's like the movie, but now on paper!**

## Synopsis:

In 1982, the injured Autobot B-127 flees from an encounter with a Decepticon and a secret human military organization, unable to speak. He manages to scan a Volkswagen Beetle before falling unconscious. The human Agent Burns remains convinced of the danger Cybertronians posed to the planet, and begins planning to eliminate the robot before it can destroy the Earth.

Five years later, in 1987, Charlie Watson wakes up the day before her 18th birthday. She and her father had been working on fixing up an old Corvette together, but ever since his recent passing, she has been feeling depressed and like she no longer fits in with the rest of her family. At her job, her shift in personality isolates her from her friends. After work, she goes to Uncle Hank's auto shop to pick up car parts for the Corvette, she finds a strange yellow Beetle, which somehow manages to start up despite Uncle Hank removing the batteries from all his cars.

The following day, the now adult Charlie decides she needs a major life change, starting with a new ride. As a result, she goes to Uncle Hank's to buy the Beetle. After driving it around for a bit, the Beetle begins to break down. Charlie manages to get it back to her garage, where she discovers it is actually a robot. Intrigued, Charlie nicknames him Bumblebee.

The next day, Charlie discovers the Beetle is gone, as Charlie's mother is using it it to take her dog to the vet. Charlie pursues and Bumblebee waves at her, with Charlie taking over driving the rest of the way. Realizing that Bumblebee needs to learn to conceal his identity, they practice hiding. The day after, Charlie take Bumblebee to the forest so he can stretch. She notices he is partly damaged and, while trying to fix it, inadvertently causes him to display a hologram of his leader, Optimus Prime. Back in the garage, Charlie installs her Corvette's radio into Bumblebee. The two bond over music as Bumblebee messes with the radio a bit. However, in the process, Charlie's friend Memo accidentally finds out about Bumblebee and is sworn to secrecy.

Elsewhere, the Decepticon Shatter has convinced her cohort Dropkick to ally with the human military leader, Burns, who knows of B-127. Both claim to him they come in peace, and that Bumblebee is a criminal.

Having decided to get revenge on her bully Tina Lark, Charlie, Memo, and Bumblebee decide to TP her house, but Bumbebee inadvertently destroys Tina's car. They speed away from the scene together, earning the attention of Sheriff Lock, who pursues them through a tunnel until they manage to escape.

Left alone the next day while Charlie is at work, Bumblebee gets curious about the house, accidentally breaking several things in the process. He attempts to use his visor to see better, but inadvertently causes a power outage and is knocked unconscious. While he is knocked out, an energon surge from his body ends up bringing several of the appliances to life. Charlie returns and manages to disable them, but the house is left severely damaged. When Charlie's family return and see the wreckage, they get into a fight, and Charlie and Memo drive away with Bumblebee in a rage. Unbeknownst to them, Dropkick, Shatter, and Sector Seven use the power surge to track Bumblebee.

## Featured characters

*(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)*

* Optimus Prime (16)
* Dropkick (18)
* Charlie Watson (3)
* Sally Watson (4)
* Ron (5)
* Otis Watson (7)
* Craig (8)
* Tripp Summers (9)
* Tina Lark (10)
* Liz (11)
* Brenda (12)
* Memo (13)
* Sheriff Lock (14)
* Uncle Hank (15)
* Mutations
	+ Washer/Dryer (19)
	+ Fridge (20)
	+ Dishwasher (21)
	+ Television (22)
	+ Alarm Clock (23)

## Notes

* The novel ends on a cliffhanger—leaving out most of the film's third act—presumably to encourage kids to watch the movie to find out how the story ends. Way to encourage literacy!
* Perplexingly, Sector Seven goes unnamed, and only fleetingly referred to as a "military organization."
* The novel is written to focus almost exclusively on Charlie and Bumblebee, omitting scenes involving other characters such as Agent Burns, Shatter, or Dropkick.
* The novel cuts some of the more obscure 1980s references, such as ALF, presumably for the benefit of younger readers, though most of the musical nods remain.

### Differences with the movie

As with most *Bumblebee*-related tie-in media, the novelization is based off an earlier draft of the script, changing or omitting some of the plot points that found their way into the actual film, while adding some additional "connective tissue" based off scenes that were ultimately removed from the final cut of the movie. Nearly all of the following sequences are included amongst the deleted scenes on the film's home release.

* The opening prologue takes place in 1982, with Bumblebee lying dormant on Earth for five years until Charlie finds him in Uncle Hank's junkyard, whereas the film simply has Bumblebee land on Earth and find his way to the junkyard within the space of a year. The novel omits the prologue set on Cybertron and the battle with Blitzwing, opening on the immediate aftermath of the fight.
* Charlie is shown towing Otis to karate practice on her moped before heading to work on Brighton Falls Boardwalk. This segues into another exchange where Charlie is blown off by her ex-friends Brenda and Liz, who work at the boardwalk corn dog stand.
* The scene where Shatter and Dropkick fatally interrogate Cliffjumper doesn't appear, nor are they alerted to Bumblebee's presence by his radio; rather, the pair are sent to the Earth by "their leader" to capture him.
* After driving Bumblebee home, Charlie convinces Otis into helping her clean the car with a promise of free rides.
* A day passes before Bumblebee transforms in front of Charlie; while driving Otis the morning after cleaning him, Bumblebee breaks down in an intersection, much to Charlie's embarrassment. Only after returning to the garage and kicking his bumper in anger does Bumblebee reveal himself.
* The novel adds an additional scene during the forest sequence where Bumblebee spills soda on himself, prompting Charlie to investigate and trigger Optimus Prime's hologram message.
* Based on another deleted scene, Memo returns the morning after meeting Bumblebee to tell Charlie his theory that Bumblebee is a GoBot, correctly (albeit unintentionally) hypothesizing that he's a sentient, transforming robot from another planet in a war against evil robots, and shows Charlie a copy of the GoBots comic book to prove this theory.
* Tina's party on the cliff is an evening beach bonfire, and the preceding scene where Memo takes off his shirt is omitted. Brenda and Liz show up again at the party, having bribed Tina into inviting them with free corn dogs.
* Bumblebee almost breaks his cover to intervene between Charlie and Tina before Charlie convinces him to back off, and subsequently chases them off in vehicle mode before leaving.
* Bumblebee's exploration of Charlie's house incorporates the deleted scene where the Autobot's energon radiation inadvertently bring the house's electronics to life— the television, the fridge, the dishwasher, the washer/dryer, and Charlie's alarm clock. Memo calls Charlie over and the three are able to take down the mutants, trashing the house in the process.
* Shatter and Dropkick form an alliance with Agent Burns, as per the movie, but the novel omits the concept that the Decepticons created the Internet in their search for B-127.

### Transformers references

* Tripp is noted to drive a 1977 Camaro, a presumable reference to Bumblebee's alternate mode from the original live-action movie.

### Real-world references

* Charlie's alarm clock plays Madonna's *Who's that Girl?* when she first appears.
* It later plays the Bangles's *Manic Monday*.
* After Charlie first fits the new stereo into Bumblebee, it plays a-ha's *Take on Me*. As in the film, she later plays a Sam Cooke record.
* Memo asks of Bumblebee, "GoBot phone home?"