The Alex Crow

Once again blending multiple story strands that transcend time and place, Grasshopper Jungle author Andrew Smith tells the story of 15-year-old Ariel, a refugee from the Middle East who is the sole survivor of an attack on his small village. Now living with an adoptive family in Sunday, West Virginia, Ariel's story of his summer at a boys' camp for tech detox is juxtaposed against those of a schizophrenic bomber and the diaries of a failed arctic expedition from the late nineteenth century. Oh, and there’s also a depressed bionic reincarnated crow.

Andrew Smith knew ever since his days as editor of his high school newspaper that he wanted to be a writer. His books includeGrasshopper Jungle and Winger. Smith prefers the seclusion of his rural Southern California setting, where he lives with his family.