The Obsoletes

Starred review from March 4, 2019
In his fantastic first novel (after the graphic novel Butcher Paper), Mills provides a clever twist on the high school bildungsroman. Set in an alternate 1990s, Darryl and Kanga Livery are twin brothers dealing with the typical angst of freshman year, except that they are also robots. After their parents (also robots) disappeared five years ago, Darryl took over as caregiver for the more reckless Kanga. Unfortunately, the brothers live in the robophobic city of Hectorville, Mich., and thus must conceal their true identities or risk destruction at the hands of their neighbors. Staying safe means acting as human as possible while hiding that they sweat oil and grease, plug into electrical outlets to recharge, and can’t digest food. But when Kanga develops a preternatural talent for basketball, the brothers’ lives come under dangerous scrutiny. Kanga begins to rely less on his brother and puts both their lives on the line by hanging out with robot-killing teammate James Botty. In turn, Darryl becomes less cautious while pursuing the affections of Brooke Noon, the oddball basketball team manager. Mills creates a world where what it means to be a teenager is deliciously complicated, and Darryl, a consummate yet dissatisfied robot struggling to figure out his own programming, ends up being a wonderful guide to it. While the ending doesn’t tie up all the story’s myriad implications, this intelligent comedy will captivate readers. (May)
Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly referred to this book as the author's second novel. This review has also been updated for clarity.

March 1, 2019
Two twins in rural Michigan struggle to navigate their sibling rivalry, young love, and the trials of being freshmen basketball players. Oh, and by the way, they're both robots. Go figure.The adolescent angst of John Hughes movies meets the existential quandaries from Blade Runner in this quirky debut novel by middle school English teacher Mills. The twin brothers at the heart of the story are narrator Darryl Livery and his counterpart, Kanga, both 14 years old and the robotic products of an enigmatic Detroit-based laboratory called Gravy Robotics. They're at a precarious time in their youth, as their robotic "parents" were recently declared obsolete and removed, leaving them orphaned and just starting high school circa 1991 in Hectorville, Michigan. The teenage coming-of-age arc is pretty conventional, even though it's written in a clear character voice (Darryl's), involving Kanga's rise as the school's b-ball star (and there are really a lot of basketball scenes, be forewarned); Darryl's infatuation with Booke Noon, a kooky paramour who's clearly and unfortunately cast in Manic Pixie Dream Girl mode; and the heightening tension between Darryl's parental instinct to take care of his brother and Kanga's escalating independence from him. The quirks come in building out the twins' lives in a place that deeply mistrusts robots, or "toasters." Unlike Daniel H. Wilson's expansive robot epics, Mills keeps the story in small scale with only a few hints as to why these undercover robots exist, though we do meet the creator late in the story. Those interested in these kinds of humanoid robot stories will love The Directions, a kind of field manual for robot behavior, as well as the bizarre rituals the twins have to perform in order to pass as human. At the end of the day, though, it's simply another YA-oriented novel about the precarious nature of growing up, and some readers might end up wanting more worldbuilding and sinister twists.A well-written and ambitious debut that doesn't quite live up to its peculiar potential.

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