Welcome to my blog!

Grasshopper Jungle

Smith, A. (2014). Grasshopper Jungle. NY: Penguin Group.

Media Type: Audiobooks

Narrated by Philip Church

Length: 9 hrs. 19 min

Release Date: February 11, 2014

Summary:

Austin Szerba is a teenage boy from Iowa who gives you a detailed account of "the end of the world." He also gives you many different accounts of events and how they intertwine. So it all begins when some bullies break into the second hand store where Austin works. There were many strange artifacts there including a glass container with a "plague" that had been contained for a long time. They accidentally break it and the plague begins to spread turning some town people into huge praying mantis who just want to eat and reproduce. At the time only Shann, Austin and Robby really know what is going on. They find a safe place that had been created in case of this sort of event. A dilemma that also follows Austin throughout the novel is his sexual orientation. He loves his girlfriend Shann, but he also loves his bestfriend Robby. There really is no resolution to either problem, Austin just learns to live with them.

Response:

I found this novel a bit weird yet entertaining. There were sexual references made in almost every sentence. What I found unique was being able to get a perspective of what teenage boys do and think about. Growing up in a household wih only sisters always left me wondering what teenage boys were like. Overall I really enjoyed this novel, and I am looking forward to reading other novels by Andrew Smith.

Connection to the textbook:

Chapter 2- This book would be categorized under Young Adult Literature.

Chapter 7- This book received many awards including the Printz Award.

Chapter 12- This book would fall under apocalyptic science fiction.

Other books by the author