First read finished: 29 November, 2013 
 Second read finished: 30 January, 2014 
 I just re-read Andrew Smith's Grasshopper Jungle, and although I understood and acknowledged the artistry and purpose, the ideas and themes inherent throughout Grasshopper Jungle after the first read, the second reading made my perception of this novel so much stronger and grounded. 
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 ou think you know what 'Young Adult' is, but you don't. You think it's all teen angst; it's not. Paranormal... Dystopian... When you read YA novels that are written thematically, written introspectively with brutal honesty and that are much more about identity and experimentation, like Andrew Smith's Grasshopper Jungle, you will realise that YA has much more to offer if you read the right ones. Read any one of Andrew Smith's prior books and you will see. He's a favourite young adult author of mine, a modern-day Kurt Vonnegut or Franz Kafka for teens, particularly because of Grasshopper Jungle. 
 Grasshopper Jungle is about experimentation scientifically and experimentation as a teenager and the areas in-between, and how everything from history is in some way connected to our present. Austin Szerba recounts the history of his Polish great-great-grandfather, Krzys Szczerba, and his immigration to America (losing the c's and z's in his name), and then everything else that follows on, such as his son's - Andrzej's, Austin's great-grandfather - settlement in the state of Iowa and his secretive life. Austin simultaneously recounts the present history when he and his gay best friend Robbie stumble upon and reignite an experiment from decades before, and as a consequence, their Iowan town becomes overrun by 6-feet tall praying mantises, hatched from various citizens of their town, which only do two things: eat and fuck. While all that goes on, Austin becomes confused with his sexuality - he loves Shannon, his girlfriend from seventh grade, but he also has feelings for Robbie. 
 The way Andrew Smith has written and structured Grasshopper Jungle will indisputably make this novel literary YA, regardless of the content it may hold. The writing is a flawless representation of Austin's voice, his thoughts, and his obsession with history. In our day and age we are always - every living day - made aware and reminded about the events of the past, so, in a sense, Austin does the same throughout Grasshopper Jungle, recording every detail and every event of his personal history and the history of his Iowan town with precision, as to not fall victim to the incompleteness of past histories. 
 I don't think I have ever read a novel as true and as real as Grasshopper Jungle, that has been able to capture the true essence, the tough and confusing reality, of being a teenager - a male teenager, I might add. We probably don't - well, didn't, since I'm 21, though I'm still in the same boat - express how many times we're horny like Austin does in Grasshopper Jungle, or how many times we've thought about sex or thought about doing things that are described somewhat as anti-social (smoking, drugs, masturbation, or boys or girls, or whatever else there is), but the reality is... we do. We don't share these thoughts - other than with close friends - because we're embarrassed, because we're afraid of judgement or of the risks and conflicts we may encounter with the people that we love. But unless we experiment, how would we know the consequences and learn from them? 
 All that is juxtaposed against the backdrop of the Unstoppable Soldier experiment, a scientific and government-funded experiment, gone horribly wrong in the past and which has reawakened to wreak havoc on the present, and also set against the experiments and experiences of the men in Austin's family history. Every detail within Grasshopper Jungle holds meaning and relevance. Words and phrases, descriptions, are repeated many times over throughout the novel, the work of a truly, professional historian like Austin Szerba, as well as the true craftsmanship of a writer like Andrew Smith. 
 This novel will surely stir controversy, but what good is an experiment if you don't have results? Also, can history be rewritten or is it already written for us? Austin has the answers. You just have to fight the 6-feet tall praying mantises with shark-tooth-studded arms to get to them, as well as travel with Austin on his journey to self-acceptance and his search for his identity, in his Iowan town and as Austin Szerba, the great-great-grandson of Krzys Szczerba. 
 If Grasshopper Jungle is not selected for school literature circles or equivalent, I will be appalled. Not because I think Grasshopper Jungle should be, but because it deserves to be studied and understood in greater detail, and not only perceived by what's physically there on the page.