Andrew Smith's (Winger) contemporary novel about the compulsion of humans to repeat history veers into the sci-fi realm, and it all hangs together thanks to his magnetic narrator, 16-year-old Austin Szerba.
Austin loves his best friend, Robby Brees--and his girlfriend, Shann Collins. The rhythm of Austin's narrative takes on almost a musical beat. Favorite refrains punctuate his recording of events. He records everything so humans will not be doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.
On a Friday night, Grant Wallace and his friends from Hoover High beat up Austin and Robby and throw their victims' shoes and skateboards on top of the Ealing Mall in Ealing, Iowa. Later, Robby and Austin go up on the roof to retrieve them; they "experiment" with a kiss, and sneak into owner Johnny McKeon's office. Inside, they find jars of two-headed boys, a penis and a blue, glowing glass globe marked "Contained MI Plague Strain 412E." The globe winds up broken, and the plague (that turns humans into six-foot praying mantises) is on the rampage.
Smith threads together a complex web of themes: generations that connect through patterns of behavior, the fallout from Monsanto-like tampering with nature, love, war, economic downturn, the gray area of budding sexuality, and free will versus fate. Sex and violence proliferate, but Austin's matter-of-fact historian's style creates the aura of a James Bond or Godzilla movie. Readers will care deeply for Austin, Robby, Shann and their fates. There's much to ponder in this many-layered novel. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness