A Book Review Starring "Grasshopper Jungle" by Andrew Smith

The Short Version:
Part science fiction, part comedy drama about Iowa teen Austin who's in love with his girlfriend Shann and his best friend Robby and also happens to be present at the beginning of the end of the world when a dormant science experiment is revived and results in the unleashing of six foot, highly destructive, man-eating grasshoppers.

The Long Version:
What is this book? I don't know. But Andrew Smith does, and you can tell. Even if you're not ready to go where he's going, or you can poke holes in the details of the narrative, it doesn't seem to matter because Smith is such an assured writer that you trust him.

It's explicit and violent with a cast of entertaining secondary characters and still its fun Yet with all the things that make it what it is, the sexual references and profanity and violence and so forth, it's not a book I'd recommend for younger readers. But man, if you're open to it, it's going to be a gross read with undertones of contemplative self-discovery about a boy who's confused about who he likes, and therefore who he is. Smith does throw a lot at the wall, and fortunately enough of it sticks.

I'm always on the hunt for boy books that sound like boy books. Boys who think about sex and aliens and video games. This is one of those books.

A Book Review Starring "One Man Guy" by Michael Barakiva

The short version:
14 year old New Jersey Armenian teen Alek is forced to go to summer school if he's going to remain on the honor track. During Algebra class he meets junior Ethan and discovers he's attracted to boys.

The long version:
This is one of those books that's structurally fine but substantively average. I found all the characters pretty one dimensional and unconvincing. The plot thin and full of highly convenient plot points. The main character inexplicably discovers he likes boys out of nowhere, without much convincing build-up.The story was also peppered with lessons in Armenian culture in forced moments injected into the plot. I found the pop culture references indicative of an author substituting his own cultural references (My Fair Lady, The Object of My Affection) for his current day teenage characters'. I wish the author had read his characters' dialogue out loud, as much of it didn't sound verbally true. Long spoken sentences, phrases that don't sound natural to teenagers, people speaking in paragraphs. .

In all it was a decent first effort, but thin and lacking credibility. One of those books where I find myself asking where was the editor.

A Book Review Starring "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan

The short version:
Two suburban Chicago area teens, both named Will Grayson, one gay, one straight, meet by chance encounter at a porn store in Chicago and find their lives changed as a result.

The long version:
Oh John and David, two of the finest YA authors of the uber-witty-in-a-not-real-teenage-life sort of way but because they both do it so well, we forgive them for both the fact that their characters don't sound like real teenagers and that all their characters have an extremely similar uberwit sort of voice. It's ok, because they make us smile and still manage to tell stories that are a bit more complex than the standard YA fare.

And this was certainly one of those. Two boys struggling with self-acceptance.  And with a cast of supporting characters, parents and peers alike, that make us smile, written with depth and fabulous empathy in spite of their similar sounding uberwit.

Why do we forgive Mr. Green and Mr. Levithan for their uberwit? Because their brand of uberwit is more entertaining and more witty than others. So be it.

A Book Review Starring "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" by Benjamin Alire Saenz

The Short Version:
Two El Paso, Texas teens, sensitive boy types who don't feel like they fit among the Male Mexican Man types they see around them, form a special friendship over the course of one year.

The Long Version:
Beautifully written story about what it means to be a young man. In the sea of girl YA books, I so love to stumble on a novel that portrays boys with substance and depth and honors the substance of their experience. Aristotle and Dante are so alike but also so different, which makes for a subtle ebb and flow of their relationship. The supporting characters, mostly their parents, are so interesting and realistic, you can see how these boys became who they are, in part, by who their parents are. Saenz's writing was gorgeous, both in its spare moments as well as the lyrical and funny ones.

If You Loved:
Will Grayson, Will Grayson, David Levithan and John Green
The Short, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
Where Things Come Back, John Corey Whaley
It's Kind of a Funny Story, Ned Vizzini
Eleanor and Park, Rainbow Rowell