Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith (2014)

Imagine this: Austin Szerba and Robby Brees are sitting on the top of the only strip mall in Ealing, Iowa past midnight. They’re up there because several hours before the town bullies beat them up, and later threw Austin and Robby’s clothes on the roof. Shann, Austin’s girlfriend, is sleeping in Robby’s car in Grasshopper Jungle, the parking lot of the mall. After retrieving their clothes, Austin and Robby decide to take a trip inside From Attic to Seller, which is owned by Shann’s step-father Johnny Mckeon, and where Austin sometimes works. There, they go into Johnny McKeon’s office, where they find a boy with two heads, along with several other body parts in glass jars, as well as a globe. At the same time, their bullies come back, and in the process of trying to hide, they release the end of the world. This is their story.

This book is so weird. Like, so, so weird. And I loved every minute of it. It’s no secret that Andrew Smith is my favorite author, and Grasshopper Jungle is one of the reasons why. Now, this book is definitely not for everyone, and is not the book you want to read if you want super-hero ending. However, that’s one of the reasons why I liked it so much. This book is science fiction, but it’s real science fiction. There wasn’t any “chosen one” to solve anything, and no one suddenly kicked into a superhuman and saved everyone. Instead, there were three teenagers that didn’t know what to do, and did their best with what they could. Andrew Smith also incorporated regular issues into the storyline, which I think was really important. I think we assume that when a disaster happens, all other problems go away, which is seen in a lot of YA “apocalyptic” books. In reality, there are still people trying to figure out things like friendships and sexuality in the face of trauma.

Speaking of sexuality, this book deals with it head on. I’m talking all aspects of sexuality: gender, emotion, physical stuff, the whole thing. Two things stand out to me thinking about Grasshopper Jungle and sexuality. First, Andrew Smith incorporates sexuality really naturally into the story. It wasn’t made out to be this really big, ridiculous thing, but just a part of daily life, which it is. Second, it’s one of the only books I know that not just talks about bisexuality, but explores it it depth. I loved how Austin was so open with his feelings for both Shann and Robbie, but also the fact that Austin wasn’t afraid to explore his sexuality. In fact, I pretty much loved Austin in general. In my opinion, he was an extremely honest character, and was really well shaped.

Lastly, I want to talk about the plot and writing style. I love Ander Smith’s writing, because it’s interesting and commical. Also, he speaks teenager. I could easily see on of my friends telling me the story word for word how Andrew Smith wrote it, and that’s super cool to me. And, nothing goes better like great writing with a great plot. This is not just a story about Austin, but basically the history of the world we live in, at least for the past hundred years or so. With that scenario, you would think there would be some major info dumping, but there wasn’t. The history flowed with the rest of the story, and made something fantastic.

Read it once! Read it twice! Grasshopper Jungle is almost too good to be true, but luckily it is.

5 STARS