Grasshopper Jungle is an apocalyptical, young adult, science-fiction, coming of age novel written by Andrew A. Smith. The book was published February 11, 2014 by Penguin Books. It has 400 pages and is sold in both hardback and paperback format. Andrew A. Smith is an American author, and Grasshopper Jungle is his eighth published book. It is now being adapted into a movie.
The story follows a young boy named Austin Szerba and his best friend Robby Brees and girlfriend Shannon Collins. They realize that the end of the world has been triggered by Robby’s blood, and must try their best at saving what they can. The book also explores other themes such as young sexuality, ancestry, bullying and religion. In the end of the book, the reader realizes that the book is Austin’s self-recorded history.
The book is written by Andrew Smith for his own enjoyment, and he published it under the urge of his son, who loved the story. Several factors in the book are purely random, such as the fact that there are several flashbacks with Austin’s polish ancestors, because Smith liked the way “Sz” looked beside each other and felt inspired by it. Smith wrote the book without a basis, outline or planned plot.
