6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Being Honest, March 4, 2009
This review is from: In Mike We Trust (Hardcover)
Teenager Garth lives alone with his mother following the death of his father. During one summer when the family is struggling to make ends meet, his father's estranged twin brother Mike unexpectedly arrives on their doorstep bringing potential good fortune and chaos into their lives. Although Garth and his mother share a close relationship, there has been a tension between them since he came out to her and she asked him not to reveal that he's gay to anyone else. Since then he has had to suppress a part of his identity as the only other person who knows about his sexuality is his close artistic friend Lisa. Mike becomes an unanticipated ally to Garth as he instantly accepts and encourages him by taking him to a gay bookstore and prods him to go on a date with a friend of Lisa's named Adam. But Mike also has a skewed work ethic roping Garth into participating in a number of money-making scams. Garth finds that as he grows closer to Mike he feels estranged from the people he loves the most by becoming tangled in a circle of lies.
Ryan's descriptions of Garth's life are evocative and convincing particularly when describing the tedium of his part-time job at a store, his angst about his height and the tension he feels while beginning a tentative romance with Adam. Equally his portrayal of outspoken Lisa with her artistic ideals and Garth's mother's simmering anger over the strained financial circumstances her deceased husband left them in are effective and moving. The author wrote about the difficulty that a gay teenager has coming out to his best friend in The Saints of Augustine and in this novel the dynamics of this conflict are explored in how it effects a family when things left unsaid cause an ever-growing and emotionally-painful conflict. Mike is not a villain, but a complex individual who acts as an unexpected catalyst bringing mother and son closer together. This emotionally engaging and funny novel is a testament to why it's important to stay true to who you are.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hilarious page-turner, May 20, 2009
This review is from: In Mike We Trust (Hardcover)
I started this book last night and finished it at 2 a.m.-- couldn't put it down. The story starts off mild and everyday-seeming, but Garth's ability to get himself into worse and worse situations really keeps the story moving. I really liked Garth, and kept wanting to yell at him "No, Garth, don't do that!" But it was no good, he would do it anyway, and by the end of the book he ends up in huge trouble, but somehow better off.
It was also very funny. Books rarely make me laugh out loud, but this one did, many times.
The only thing I didn't like about it was having to get by on four hours sleep today.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, April 22, 2009
This review is from: In Mike We Trust (Hardcover)
Things haven't been going so well for 15-year-old Garth since his father died. He and his mom have had to move into a dingy apartment. She works two jobs and is always tired, while he has to pretend to enjoy working for the irritable owner of the local department store. Worst of all, he finally found the courage to come out to her - only to have her put that discussion "on hold" for an indefinite period, after extracting a promise that he tell no one else.
Garth feels stifled, but he has no idea what to do about it.
Then change comes without warning in the form of Garth's Uncle Mike, who shows up one evening in need of a place to crash for a few weeks. Despite Garth's mom's concerns, Garth finds himself immediately warming to Mike. Mike has the sort of confidence Garth wishes he had, and when he tells Mike about his sexuality, Mike is not only accepting, but also encouraging.
Yet even as Mike helps Garth feel more comfortable with himself, he starts to involve Garth in a series of increasingly elaborate money-making schemes. As desperately as his family could use the cash, Garth can't help feeling the pressure of all the secrets he's suddenly keeping.
But how can trusting the person who's given him the support he so needs be wrong?
IN MIKE WE TRUST is full of those sorts of tricky moral dilemmas, and watching Garth navigate them is just part of the novel's appeal. Ryan offers no easy answers, and Garth's responses feel completely authentic. The stifling Garth feels is vividly drawn, as is his developing relationship with another gay teen. The conclusion wraps up several loose ends in a believable but optimistic way, and leaves others open to the reader's imagination.
Teens who've struggled with parents who can't quite accept them for who they are - whether their sexuality or any other aspect of their identity - will find much to relate to, not to mention hope. Recommended to all fans of contemporary YA.
Reviewed by: Lynn Crow
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