BRINGING UP MIKE.

BRINGING UP MIKE by MARK DUNCAN.

SOURCE: Read and reviewed on behalf of the author.

THE BOOK ACCORDING TO THE BACK COVER: A teen prodigy makes drastic changes to his life and attends high school incognito with Mike, an artificial intelligence. His plans take an unexpected turn when he buys a neglected former racehorse. To achieve his goals, he must change everything about himself.

FIRST SENTENCE {August}: Joe rode his bicycle along Beef Hollow Road

MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 267}: "The God-fearing fundamentalists of the town were convinced that anyone with tattoos and piercings had the mark of Satan, was possessed, a prostitute, and probably had hepatitis C. They made my life a living hell."

MY THOUGHTS: OK, so first to tell you what this novel isn't. 

Despite what I felt was an awfully outdated cover it isn't a dated read but rather a very contemporary account of life as a modern slightly geeky, socially awkward teenager. Nor, despite it featuring a main character of Artificial Intelligence, would I describe it as a sci-fiction/fantasy read - rather disappointingly 'Mike' does not feature as often as I'd have liked and especially not in the earlier chapters. Bringing Up Mike is more a gentle coming of age story that actually isn't a story so much as a interwoven collection of events that occur when a teen prodigy finds himself, the guest of Martha and George, a newcomer at the local high school.

A book that you'll probably appreciate if you are after lots of morsels of information on subjects as diverse as the American school system and moving like a zombie to Civil War re-enactments and barbecue competitions and everything in between. A book that you'll doubtlessly love if you are into horses. For myself what I really enjoyed about the story and would liked to have read more of was Joe finding himself, the one-up-manship between himself and the almost pantomime like villain, Sly, and, more than anything else, Mike's questioning life and in particular his role in it (his pondering 'Am I a pet? Am I a slave' was one of the most moving things I've read in a while).

Overall an extremely thought provoking read for the young adult audience (and older) that will have you considering several moral/ethical dilemmas. Personally whilst I wasn't in awe of all the incidental information that came as part-and-parcel of the novel I do feel that Joe and Mike have a lot of mileage left in them, that this is only the beginning.