Grasshopper Jungle

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

Printz Honor Award 2015

Austin Szerba is a historian.  It is his job to tell the truth about how and why things happened.  He is also a sixteen year old boy stuck in the middle of nowhere Iowa with a menial job, a great girlfriend who he loves, and an awesome best friend who is gay that he may also love.  Austin writes the history of his family, starting with his great-great grandfather coming to America from Poland to his brother loosing his leg and testicles serving America in Afghanistan.  Even though it might be hard or embarrassing he will tell the truth about loving both a boy and girl and being totally confused the entire time.
  What he will especially tell the truth about is the end of the world that started when a strange blue mold infected just five people who then morphed into giant man eating pray mantises.  As if being a teen wasn't difficult enough Austin, his girlfriend Shann, and best friend (boyfriend?) Robby are having to run from gigantic, killing, and now breeding six-foot-tall insects!  As it becomes obvious Austin is now writing the history of the possible demise of humanity he and his friends must try to save themselves and as many others as possible.

Science fictions lovers unit!  Fans of Kurt Vonnegut this book is for you!  Teen angst mixes with man eating bugs?  The history of a Polish immigrant coupled with sexual identities?  This book is about EVERYTHING!  Even after reading the front flap I didn't believe that I was really about to read one book about so many themes and topics.  Yet here it is- Grasshopper Jungle.  It appears I am not the only one, Andrew Smith has apparently been asked about this book more than most of his others.  A short interview with him about this novel is below.

I'll Give You The Sun

Nelson, J. (2014). I'll give you the sun. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Printz Award Winner 2015

In a world of color and vibrant images 13-year-old artist Noah is struggling to be invisible, wanting to spend every waking moment with his sketch pad.  Jude wants to be seen.  She surfs, has friends, goes to parties and wants only her art to be invisible.  You'd never guess they were twins unless you could see the unspeakable bond the two have.  They can finish each other's sentences, know what the other is thinking from different rooms.  Yet two years later they have completely traded places.  Jude has become the invisible art student seeking a sculpting mentor while Noah has become a faceless member of the local clique who never draws or paints.  Whatever bond the twins had is strained and almost completely broken by tragedy.  Both of them are lost and seeking for something that only finding together can rebuild what they have lost.  Noah is hiding a secret, Jude can tell but only by overcoming it can they find their way back to one another and their lost happiness. 

One of the most talked about novels of the year, I'll give you the sun is told from the different points of views of the twins.  Noah from the age of 13-14, Jude 16-17.  While some may have a little difficulty with the time shifts throughout the novel the story would be incomplete without both. Noah takes us through the beginning, Jude through the end.  With as much hype and conversation as this book has generated it is no wonder that it has already been optioned by Warner Brothers to become a feature film.  Author Jandy Nelson talks about who she would envision in the film as well as different aspects of the novel in the interview found at the following link:
http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/may/01/jandy-nelson-ill-give-you-the-sun-interview