Andrew Smith - Grasshopper Jungle

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An edgy and original coming-of-age story interwoven with several generations of family history and set against the bawdy, violent end of the world

Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba has always filled notebooks with the “histories” of his family and the narrative of his daily life, but his story takes an epic, dangerous turn when he and his best friend, Robby, accidently bring about the end of humanity by unleashing an unstoppable army of horny, hungry, six-foot-tall praying mantises on their small Iowa hometown. While struggling with their own confusing love triangle, the boys piece together the origin of the unstoppable soldiers from stories that have been locked away in an absurd underground bunker for decades.

Delightfully bizarre, raucous, and hilarious, Grasshopper Jungle ($18.99) is a complex and fascinating balancing act that is both a genre roller coaster ride and an intimate coming-of-age study.

Andrew Smith is the acclaimed author of five novels for young adults, incuding Ghost Medicine, In the Path of Falling Objects, The Marbury Lens, Stick, and Passenger, as well as the forthcoming Winger. Andrew prefers the seclusion of his rural Southern California setting, where he lives with his wife, 16-year-old son, 13-year-old daughter, two horses, three dogs, three cats, and one irritable lizard named Leo. 

 

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