Mike is, in his own words, a fourteen-year-old “math moron.” Given that his father is a distracted math genius who teaches at the University (think Harvard) this is a pretty serious basis for disappointment and disaster. But Mike lives alone with his Dad, and has taken care of him for years, ever since his mother died. After all, his father can’t do any of the normal things a regular human being does: make toast, find his car keys, or pay the bills (ok, maybe more like MIT). This might sound like the makings of a sad story, but the thing is, Mike is hilarious. He tells his story, blow by blow, with panache and heart, in spite of an oblivious parent and a major lack of confidence.
Mike’s most immediate problem, besides the fact that his father wants him to get into a prestigious math-magnet high school, is that he’s being sent away for six weeks to help his ancient great-aunt and uncle with some science project in rural Pennsylvania (“wasn’t that where the groundhog lived?”) while his father teaches a seminar in Romania. Great-aunt Moo meets him at the airport, her white hair sticking straight out from her head, wearing yellow duck sneakers and a white hoodie, and the summer goes downhill from there. Eccentric characters abound in the small town, where apparently everyone knows everything about everyone. Moo’s car Tyrone has a mind of his own. (Tyrone! Dude! Slow down! ) Mike’s Uncle Poppy, still in shock from the death of their son four months ago, has his butt glued to the living room chair, 24-7. This could be dark. But Mike’s ongoing inner and outer dialog is laugh-out-loud funny, and the darkness recedes. You can’t help but just relax and go along for the ride. As Mike gets drawn into the town’s scheme to adopt a small boy from – where else – Romania, the various storylines get pulled closer and closer together, like the strings on Moo’s hoodie.
National Book Award winner Katherine Erskine (Mockingbird) weaves a magic spell in this snugly constructed novel. Who else would give chapter headings clever math terms that chart Mike’s progress? While the premise of a young teenager being sent off to spend time with crazy relatives is not exactly original, her quirky characters virtually pop off the page, and the absolute value of the story ends up being much more than the sum of its parts.
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