IN MIKE WE TRUST

When his dad’s twin brother, Mike, crashes into his life with an uneasy bang, Garth feels like he’s seeing the ghost of his father, who died months before in a boating accident. Mike’s enthusiastic presence awakens and invigorates Garth’s somber household by providing both financial and emotional support. Mike even eases Garth out of the closet against his mom’s wishes. Despite these good deeds, Mike obviously has a shady past, and trouble arises when he entangles Garth in a sketchy moneymaking scheme. Ryan’s second novel for teens is complex and very different from the calm simplicity of Saints of Augustine (2007). The plenitude of issues—dead dads, fatherhood, coming-out and friendship—threatens to swamp readers, especially when they hit all at once. The plot burns like wildfire, occasionally feeling preachy. Nevertheless, the characterizations ring true, and Mike’s personality plays a raucously entertaining polar opposite to Garth and his mom’s. A surprising, entertaining and sometimes overwhelming sophomore story of what it means to twist the truth. (Fiction. YA)