Review: "Grasshopper Jungle" by Andrew Smith

"There are things in here: babies with two heads, insects as big as refrigerators, God, the devil, limbless warriors, rocket ships, sex, diving bells, theft, wars, monsters, internal combustion engines, love, cigarettes, joy, bomb shelters, pizza, and cruelty. Just like it's always been."

My feelings about this book are so mixed you could pour them in a pan, pop it in the oven, and pull out a fluffy cake half an hour later. You know what I mean.

Today, I'm reviewing Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith.

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First off, I want to complement the publishers (Penguin Group/Dutton) for dragging me in by the hair. I found this at my local bookstore and, upon seeing the cover and reading the blurb, was drawn in. I decided to grab the book after some contemplation, and along with another purchase and an extra book called-in, I had a stack of reading to go through. I started this one immediately.

I began Tuesday. I finished today (actually, technically yesterday - today is just two hours old). I read a part a day, skipping Thursday, and finished a few hours ago. I'm still working on digesting all of the story, but I'll do my best to discuss the contents, but I will discuss some spoiler-y stuff at the bottom. Don't worry; I have warnings posted.

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One of the things that you can complement Smith for is his excellent mastery of voice. He tells the story from the perspective of Austin Szerba, a 16-year old Lutheran boy who has a knack for history and, oddly enough, arousal jokes. Yeah, not the first person you'd think of as a narrator, but a good choice for the novel. Besides, Austin's not the weirdest part of this story, not by a long shot.

Anyways, Smith's use of voice was excellent, exceptional even. The issue was that because of the nature and voice of the protagonist/narrator, things naturally started to get unhinged and hard to follow. While Austin enjoys history and the connections made in history and the present moment, he tends to ramble a lot. And I mean a lot. A lot of what he rambles about carries throughout the book, of course, but not all of it does, and it results in an awkward dance between the story and what's just going on in Austin's head. In addition, it also makes it harder to tell what is happening in the story; while it's not always difficult to piece together the events, there are certainly moments that left me head-scratching.

It was confusing, to say the least.

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Now, as for the plot.

*intake of breath*

The plot is about how two boys accidentally let loose an army of hungry and horny praying mantises that put their Iowan town - and the world - in grave danger, leaving them the only two who can stop the stampede.

...

I'm seriously not kidding.

The moment I read the blurb, I laughed out loud. I mean, nobody publishes plots like those. That's the type of plots typically joked and laughed about, right? That's the type of plot a twelve-year old would come up with! Despite that - more like because of it - I was prepared to pick up the book and be dragged into a crazy ride.

I mean, it's fun, silly, and still incredibly contemplative.

Oh, and trippy. Really trippy.

...and I'm still not kidding.

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The other reason I decided to pick up this book was because I had seen the cover of the book before. Where? Online, at the Diversity in YA tumblr. Unbeknownst to me, I'd been on the diversity side of writing for years, since I've been writing about sexuality and LGBT characters since - hmm - 2009-ish? Of course, I was fooling around a little more back then, but I began to delve more seriously into the issue when I began writing Project: Faith. That was not an issue book, of course; I wanted to work in a world where that didn't matter, or at least didn't come clean. The sequel, Project: Hope, did become more issue-oriented.

But enough about me. This is about Grasshopper Jungle. And the easiest way to categorize it is in the same way I categorize Hope - it's issue-oriented, but it's not the main focal point of the novel.

Now, I should introduce two of the main characters: Shann and Robb. Shann, of course, is Austin's girlfriend; Robb is his best friend. The sexuality conflict in the beginning stems from, strangely enough, Austin's oft-mentioned fantasy of having sex in Robb's car with Shann while Robb watched. What eventually transpired was a more serious, gut-wrenching talk about his feelings both for Robb and Shann, which, in some ways, mimic the way many teenagers feel these days. I'd want to hope I'd know - I've sort of been there.

So the subject of sexuality was tackled, and it was tackled in a very meaningful and accurate way. I mean, it's not rocket science, but Smith managed to discuss it without being nasty, crude, or rude. I mean, he talks about sex more crudely because of Austin's voice, but it's all relative.

...an aside note, as I was editing this: Austin, while struggling with his bisexuality, also seems to be dealing with some polyamory as well. I don't know that polyamory is necessarily connected to sexuality - although I tend to think more about orientation than anything - but I will say that I think he did tackle it meaningfully within the context of the story. Could've done that part better, maybe, but he took a chance. Gotta admire that.

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Voice was grand, plot was trippy, and sexuality was acceptable. Anything I really didn't like?

Yeah, admittedly, there was. And it had to do with keeping track of events.

Now, I don't want to start spoiling stuff yet, but to put it simple, the narrator would discuss his current situation, typically with his friends or something . . .and then he'd suddenly start talking about "on the other side of town" or "at the same time" or "in the meantime", which was incredibly disorienting and not at all fun to read. I mean, I can understand why the story was told that way, because it's discussed more at the end of the book, but it's super confusing in the meantime. I mean, I want to know about the characters I have emotional investments in . . . I don't need to know about the people getting maimed all around town.

The bright side to this is that Smith does a great job of keeping everything connected in some way. For example, there are pieces you don't even think about the first time around, which are then referred to later in the book. And they're even plot significant! It's not an easy task to keep track of that, but it certainly narrows down the number of plot holes. I'll applaud for that, of course, but I still insist that it could've been done better. Flashback if you must - I love flashbacks when done right - but don't interrupt the action, please.

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I think that I've talked enough about the style points I wanted to cover - for now, I think I'm going to get into spoiler territory about specific points in the book, mostly because there was at least one part I wanted to discuss.

Again, SPOILERS AHEAD.

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First - still loving the cohesion. The beginning of the book where Robb is nosebleeding onto the alley's blacktop is so well-connected to the rest of the plot, especially as we begin to learn about 412E, that it's left me in awe. It's not easy to tie all of those parts together, and especially in a manner where I can still remember that beginning event without having to go back and look for the scene again. Excellent job indeed.

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That being said, I can't keep up with the names. I know Smith's trying to keep everything neatly tied, but I don't need to know everybody's name, especially the name of the cat the neighbor has. Eeep.

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The history lessons about Austin's family tree were pretty interesting, although again, there were so many names it was hard to remember. It was cool to read through it, though. Props once more.

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Which mother is named Connie?! Are they both named Connie?! Good gravy, save me.

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I need to bring up Shann's behavior in part 4 specifically, because all of a sudden, she turns into a bitch. I mean, I liked her before, but then she suddenly has it put-together that Robb loves Austin and they've kissed and in an instant, Shann becomes Homophobe of the Year. What the hey? That came from south of WTF-land.

I mean, I'm not saying it was bad.

But I did want a warning.

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And then Shann and Austin fuck everything better.

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. . . or . . . not?

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WAIT A SECOND THAT WAS HER FIRST TIME.

I KNOW IT CAN HAPPEN BUT WHAT KIND OF TIMING IS IT THAT SHE GETS PREGNANT?!

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I  like the plot twists with the Szerba family. And the talk about Eric. Actually, I just like Eric in general.

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I mean, I don't appreciate the ONE REFERENCE to Eric contemplating suicide. That was weird and out-of-place and, strangely enough, the one thing not followed up on. Eric, don't die sweetie. You sound cute. Getting convinced by two prostitutes to ask for a blow job makes you one of the cutest characters in the book, which is both pretty weird and definitely not something I ever contemplated writing.

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Lastly - just to say one more awesome thing about the book - it definitely dragged me along for a ride. I could barely put it down, except for the moments where I needed to stop and breathe. Stuff that intense makes me need to put it down and digest. Not only that, but it made me think, which is wonderful and something I want every book to make me do.

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SPOILERS ARE DONE HERE.

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So, let me sum it up with a five-point system!

Use of Voice: 5/5. Seriously, I loved the voice. It was unique and telling and just something that lots of people aren't good at that Smith is. So congrats on that point.

Style: 2/5. Again, the interruptions in story were disorienting.

Plot: 4/5. Loved the cohesion, and I loved the strangeness in plot. I mean, it could've been handled differently, but it was still fricken' awesome.

Readability: 2/5. I added this because it really was hard to read. The writing, in and of itself, was simple, but the jumping between history and at-the-same-time's and the present moments was unpleasant, and I wasn't a huge fan of it.

Averaged: 3.25/5, which seems about right, actually. I mean, it was WEIRD, and there were parts of it that were out there, but it was a decent read. It's definitely made me think, obviously.

OVERALL . . . if you want a diverse read and something to make you raise your brow, laugh out loud, and tilt your head to one side, grab this book and give it a once-over (or more, if you like). It was a good and thoughtful read, and it deserves a peruse, especially for the way it was written. Andrew Smith, great job on this book - it was a great story!