Grasshopper Jungle

Summary:  It's the end of the world. Austin, the main character is a sexually confused teen and historian describing it.  He is in love with both his girlfriend, Shann and his best friend, Robby, who is gay.  Robby and Austin are hanging out behind the mall, they call Grasshopper Jungle. Bullies beat them up and throw their stuff on the roof.  Robby is upset and uses his blood to write “Grant Wallace murdered me” on the pavement. Later that night theboys return to retrieve their belongings and they discover an access door to his bosses’ office. They find a glowing mass called "Contained Plague 412E," and containers with hands, a two headed baby, and a penis.  While they are discovering such strange things, the bullies return and steal the glowing mass. They accidentally drop it on the pavement where Robby wrote his bloody message. This creates a plague of man-eating pray mantises who only eat and have sex. The boys run to Shann’s house and discover a machine that types a message. The message reads, "they must seek refuge at a silo."  Once they find the silo, which is in an underground farm, they learn about a refuge named Eden and it’s history. They learn that the only way to get rid of the plague is through Robby’s blood, which had activated the plague. Their efforts to fight the praying mantises in their hometown are unsuccessful and must start a new life in the city of Eden. 

Smith, A. (2014). Grasshopper jungle. New York: Dutton.

Commentary:  The strengths of this book are that it is about everything and contains almost everything imaginable: war, sex, masturbation, love, giant insects, history, soldiers, God, the devil, joy, the end of the world, history, everything.  It allows teenagers who are questioning anything to have a book that they can relate to because it has everything.  It throws in science fiction, horror, apocalyptic themes. It is different from anything else out there.

Connections:  I would consider this a soft Science Fiction Modern novel being that it is not about the science behind what all is going on but more about the relationships in the book.   Although it mainly focused on the male characters  there are a few female characters but they are not very well developed.    .  

Link to the author's page Andrew Smith.

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