This note contains spoilers for the book.

It's a nice pair of school stories. Mike is bounced from a 1st-rate school to a "good" school, and eventually ends up on the cricket team anyway. Along the way a number of "rags" are perpetrated. Light fun.

I have an ebook called Mike, and one called Mike and Psmith, and the second half of M is the same as all of M&P. So perhaps they really were two stories at some level; though in the combined edition the chapter numbering runs straight through.

It's not officially two, but about half way through he's bounced from Wrykyn to Sedleigh, so he goes through learning about a new environment twice, and basically has two sets of adventures with two sets of supporting characters.

Okay, here we go; Wikipedia comes through again. The first part has been called Jackson Junior and Mike at Wrykyn. The second part has been called The Lost Lambs, Enter Psmith, and Mike and Psmith.

Mike is from a family of cricketers, and Wrykyn is the traditional family school. His nearest brother plays at school, and older brothers play "for England"; I think some of them are professional players. This book has a lot of cricket in it; but don't worry, you won't understand it any better afterwards.

Mike does quite well in cricket, and that's what's important to him. Which is how he ends up at Sedleigh for the second half; his father blows a gasket when he sees the school report. There's a multi-year jump just near the end of the Wrykyn part.

At Sedleigh he meets Psmith, who comes from a leading school to Sedleigh (which is merely a school). Psmith has any amount of attitude. The spelling of his name is something he makes up in the first page we know him.

Mike is going to avoid cricket out of pique; making the worst of a bad situation. Psmith doesn't like games either. Eventually it comes out that Psmith is very good at cricket; he just doesn't like it. Mike starts playing for a village team, and eventually plays for the house team and the school team and actually has fun.

There's never any real time spent on classes, academic work, or worrying about learning. It's all the actions of the boys in this isolated hot-house environment, no family or parental restraint, and nothing really to occupy their minds.

I'm finding these far more interesting than I ever found Jeeves and Bertie.