In the Path of Falling Objects
By Andrew Smith
(Square Fish, Hardcover, 9780312375584, 352pp.)
Publication Date: October 12, 2010
Other Editions of This Title: Google eBook, Paperback, Compact Disc
Categories: Action & Adventure - Survival Stories, Family - General
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Jonah and his younger brother, Simon, are on their own. All they have left in the world is ten dollars, a backpack full of dirty clothes, and a stack of letters from their older brother, who’s fighting in the war. They’re on their way to Arizona when they catch a ride from a couple. The girl is friendly—and beautiful. But the man is different, maybe dangerous, maybe deadly. It’s a good thing Jonah and Simon packed one more thing in their bag . . . a gun.
Andrew Smith is the author of Ghost Medicine and The Marbury Lens, both of which were named American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults. In addition to writing, he teaches high school advanced placement classes and coaches rugby. He lives in Southern California with his family, in a rural location in the mountains.
“Falling Objects is a mystical, lyrical, sometimes violent, and ultimately hopeful story of what it means to be a brother. . . . For teens looking for something to sink their teeth into, Smith offers a challenging read. Powerful imagery and symbolism are threaded throughout the narrative along with Bible references, a map that Jonah is drawing, a meteorite that Simon takes along as a talisman, and references to gravity and its relentless pull. The intensity will suit serious readers who don’t mind a little blood and gore.”—School Library Journal
“16-year-old Jonah and his brother, Simon, two years younger, embark on a brutal but mesmerizing road trip that steers an unswerving course toward tragedy. . . . [O]lder teens will be riveted.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Smith's Vietnam-era road trip tells the tense, violent and cathartic story of teenage brothers Jonah and Simon, 16 and 14, on the run after their mother abandons them in their New Mexico home.”—Publishers Weekly
“A relentless, bleak thriller that nails the claustrophobic sense of being totally out of control, and moving fast.”—Booklist
“The setting is vivid, the plot (including a thrilling showdown) is suspenseful, and the characters are complex and intriguing, particularly in their interactions with one another. It’s a wilderness survival adventure wherein the characters have to survive each other as much as the harsh, unforgiving landscape.”—The Horn Book
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