Grasshopper Jungle is set
in modern, poverty stricken Ealing, Iowa and narrated by Austin Szerba. Sex and sexuality, adults, bullies, [censored], and sex.
Austin and Robby, retrieving some items placed on the roof of the local mall by
a group of bullies, decide to slip into “From Attic to Seller Consignment Store”
where they see [censored], [censored], [censored], and [censored]. While
in the store, the group of bullies break in and [censored]. As they sneak
out, making sure to avoid the group of bullies, they see [censored], setting off a strange chain of events that [censored].
You’re probably wondering why I did that to the story’s
summary. Spoilers are one of my biggest pet peeves, whether it applies to
books, movies, games, anything. Hate
‘em. Don’t want ‘em near me, don’t wanna
look at ‘em. I wish all spoilers would just die. Okay, that last bit might be a bit of an
exaggeration, but it irritates me to no end when I read the back of a book or
the inside sleeve of a book gives away crucial information. If I could go on and on about how much I hate
spoilers, I would, complete with an extensive multimedia presentation. However, I won’t because I’m talking about Grasshopper Jungle right now. The reason I bring up my disdain for spoilers
is because of what would have been ruined for me in this book had I known about
it prior. Nothing that would have
destroyed my experience, but it would have taken away something special. In keeping with that I have made the summary
I normally include short and vague. I
want all you potential readers to have that same moment I did. To best describe that moment, I’ll say
this: I never saw anything but the title
of Simon Pegg’s The World End before I watched the movie. My feelings of unadulterated bewilderment and
pure glee when “the shift” happened (I’m hoping this is explanatory enough) in
that movie perfectly mirror my reactions when I read this book. Now that I’ve finished the book and read the
back (basically, now that I’ve looked at even the most precursory information
about this book) I see it’s actually not that a surprising a shift (much like
World’s End wasn’t if anyone saw even a single trailer or looked at the movie
posters). However, I went into this book
with only my experience of his earlier books—Ghost Medicine, Passenger,
In the Path of Falling Objects—playing
into what I expected out of this book (If I’d remembered Marbury Lens I may have seen it coming). So, if possible, I’d like to give you the
same experience I had. Smith is great at
writing captivating coming of age stories, and Grasshopper Jungle is that and more. For first time Andrew Smith readers, this
book is as excellent a place to start as any.
Now that I’ve finished belaboring that single part, I’ll
actually get into the actual review.
Sex. Boom, the reader’s hooked.
This is a great coming of age story that, among the many factors to
come, isn’t afraid to be in the head of an adolescent boy and elaborate on all
of his thoughts. A few of those thoughts
aren’t even about sex. Along with Austin’s
many mixed feelings towards sex and sexuality, his overall attitude towards
friends, romantic interests, adults, and bullies are dead on and I would
challenge any reader to say that they can’t find a single instance in the story
where they aren’t taken back to a similar moment in their own adolescence. [As
this is a male character and I’m male, I can’t speak from experience, but I’d
wager that this also applies true to females as well.] The narrative style is that of first person
train-of-thought for 10th grade Austin Szerba, and I can’t imagine
any other form being this captivating.
There’s always the issue that train-of-thought writing might sound too
manufactured or it might be too erratic, but Smith has succeeded in spades. Also, did I mention that Austin is very, very
horny?
As a science fiction, Grasshopper
Jungle is almost required to speak to some real modern day issue by way of
its sci-fi narrative. Grasshopper
Jungle addresses sexuality in a way that isn’t typically addressed in YA
fiction outside of novel solely dedicated to that topic. This helps pull the topic from sensitive
subject matter and makes it part of normal conversation so, regardless of the
quality of the story (which is exceptionally high), the impact this book has
and will have gets it major points in my book.
It’s clear in every one of his novels, but Smith has an interestingly profound
understanding of what it is to be a teenage boy.
The quips and overall comedic tone in here are great. They’re not forced, they’re clever, they’re
fun, and they’re plentiful. I started
with a small list of lines that I thought about including here, but after I’d
accumulated a couple dozen from the first forty pages alone (out of nearly four
hundred) I realized that the list might exceed the length of the rest of my
review. Not a page will go by that you
don’t chuckle, at the very least. They
also make sense, working with the established voice of the story and making the
reader enjoy the act of reading while not pulling them out of the story. Hell, forget quips, it’s all funny, the whole
damn book. And in every single chuckle
and thoughtful moment of the book, there are hardly any “book” moments, and
when I say “book” moments, I mean events that could only happen in a book. Thinking them over, I could see them all
happening in real life (well…with some obvious exceptions). There’s a life in this book, making it more
than a story and making it incredibly clear that no one could finish this book
being worse off.
The premise of the story (and yes, this will be vague) is
one we’ve all heard before.
Important/relevant older figure has store with strange odds and
ends. Kids break in. Kids find things hidden away off main store
floor. Kids witness object’s
misuse. Chaos/plot ensues. It’s a solid angle that works and Smith puts
his own flourish on it. The characters,
primarily Austin and Robby, are also constructed incredibly well, coming off as
intelligent and self-aware while being believable as teenagers, not appearing
as teenage puppets worked by their adult and experienced creator.
“The shift” that I referred to earlier—the cause of my
vagueness and, most likely, your irritation towards how unhelpful my review is—results
in one of the mostly calmingly surreal stories I’ve read in a while. There is no loss in teenage awkwardness, no
overselling of certain emotions, and the ending is a blast.
I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys slice-of-life
stories, science fiction, and chuckles, as well as anyone dealing with, or
trying to understand, teenager-hood.
Actually, I’d recommend this to anyone of any age who likes a good, fun
story. This is, at least, one of my top
five YA novels. Now, while you go read Grasshopper Jungle, I think I’ll go
check out Alex Crow…
Rating: 4/5
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