Readers' rating:
Published Sep 2009
336 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
Jonah and his younger brother, Simon, are on their own. They set out to find what's left of their family, carrying between them ten dollars, a backpack full of dirty clothes, a notebook, and a stack of letters from their brother, who is serving a tour in Vietnam. And soon into their journey, they have a ride. With a man and a beautiful girl who may be in love with Jonah. Or Simon. Or both of them.
The man is crazy. The girl is desperate. This violent ride is only just beginning. And it will leave the brothers taking cover from hard truths about loyalty, love, and survival that crash into their lives.
One more thing: The brothers have a gun. They’re going to need
"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...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
This information about In the Path of Falling Objects was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Andrew Smith is the award-winning author of several Young Adult novels, including the critically acclaimed Grasshopper Jungle (2015 Michael L. Printz Honor, 2014 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Carnegie Medal Longlist) and Winger. He is a native-born Californian who spent most of his formative years traveling the world. His university studies focused on Political Science, Journalism, and Literature. He has published numerous short stories and articles. The Alex Crow, a starred novel by Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and Booklist, is his ninth novel. He lives in Southern California.
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