How to Make a Friend — Stephen W. Martin

A girl's efforts to build a robot friend go comically awry when the robot attempts world domination in this witty metaphor for the ups and downs of friendship.
 

Ever wish friendship came with an instruction manual? A resourceful youngster follows step-by-step directions for constructing a robot to be her friend. The instructions make it sound so simple! But they also caution that sometimes a friendship doesn't turn out as hoped for, as the girl discovers when her new friend unexpectedly unleashes an evil robot army on the city. Now she has to stop the robot and seriously reevaluate their friendship! In the end, the resilient heroine of this comical and clever tale not only saves the city, she finds a real and lasting friend where least expected.