The Obsoletes is a thought-provoking coming-of-age novel
about two human-like teen robots navigating high school, basketball, and
potentially life-threatening consequences if their true origins are
discovered by the inhabitants of their intolerant 1980s Michigan
hometown.
Fraternal twin brothers Darryl and Kanga are just like any other
teenagers trying to make it through high school. They have to deal with
peer pressure, awkwardness, and family drama. But there's one closely
guarded secret that sets them apart: they are robots. So long as they
keep their heads down, their robophobic neighbors won't discover the
truth about them and they just might make it through to graduation.
But when Kanga becomes the star of the basketball team, there's more at
stake than typical sibling rivalry. Darryl--the worrywart of the
pair--now has to work a million times harder to keep them both out of
the spotlight. Though they look, sound, and act perfectly human, if
anyone in their small, depressed Michigan town were to find out what
they truly are, they'd likely be disassembled by an angry mob in the
middle of their school gym.
Heartwarming and thrilling, Simeon Mills's charming debut novel is a
funny, poignant look at brotherhood, xenophobia, and the limits of one's
programming.
