Thursday, December 10, 2015

Letter to Katie Kennedy (Learning to Swear in America)


Published by Bloomsbury, July 2016
Genre: Young adult


An asteroid is hurtling toward Earth. A big, bad one. Yuri, a physicist prodigy from Russia, has been called to NASA as they calculate a plan to avoid disaster. He knows how to stop the asteroid: his research in antimatter will probably win him a Nobel prize--if there's ever another Nobel prize awarded. But Yuri's 17, and having a hard time making older, stodgy physicists listen to him. Then he meets Dovie, who lives like a normal teenager, oblivious to the impending doom. Being with her, on the adventures she plans when he's not at NASA, Yuri catches a glimpse of what it means to save the world and save a life worth living.

 Dear Katie Kennedy,

I have had this book on my Goodreads TBR for ages and am I glad I was givne the opporutnity to tell you why. Here goes:

I love reading books and watching shows about smart kids. Hermione? Rory? Sheldon? All of them, totally my jam. So, reading the description for Learning to Swear in America, I was pretty much assured of at least picking this book up. Yuri's a brilliant kid and clearly knows what he's doing. What other 17 year old knows as much about physics as he does? Then again, he is a kid so he's getting what we all get at that age: a lack of understanding, of questioning whether we're good enough. I have got to find out how he solves this because I doubt that a boy who knows how to save life as we know it wouldn't do everything he could to convince them that, Hey, I can save you!

The cover is amusing to and I can see how it'd be Yuri making the rude hand gestures to the stodgy scientists not listening to him. Plus, that little bit at the end with a giant hole in the Earth? Doesn't exactly paint a happy picture, but it does make me want to find out, well, if the world does get his by this asteroid, what's going to happen? Are we talking Armageddon here or really bad weather like The Day After Tomorrow?

The cultural differences alone are going to make for interesting reading material. Did Yuri grow up in Russia or the US? Is there any culture clashing between him and Dovie, the typical American teenager? Their interaction looks like it'll be a lot of fun and the tease about their adventures makes me curious about Dovie. Sure she's billed as a normal teenager, but that could mean so many things. What is she like? Is she a sport type of teen, hipster, what? I need to know!!!

I can't wait to read this story and really get in depth with it, with Yuri and Dovie.

Hoping to read it soon!
Heather aka The Hermit Librarian

11 comments:

  1. DUDE. This book sounds freaking amazing! I just saw the title for the first time the other day and didn't know much about it. Totally adding it to my TBR.

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  2. Agent Heather! Thank you so much for writing that. <333 Yuri is definitely a smart kid--in some ways. Dovie is smart, and talented, in other ways--and her brother, Lennon, provides the snark. I couldn't let you read a snark-free book, could I? ;-) Insider trivia: my editor and I had some reeeaaaally interesting discussions about exactly which words to use in some scenes, and which language they should be in. (blush) Note to self: Destroy those emails. ;-)

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  3. The asteroid's number is 1019, and you posted this on 10-19, Heather! Possibly you're a genius, too?

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    1. I'd certainly like to think so, but who knows? *lol* That's a cool coincidence!

      I like the description of Lennon, sounds like a pip. How on earth am I going to last until July? :o

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  4. Hi, Heather!

    I saw the title of this book the other day, but to be honest, I didn't look into it because I was busy. I'm so glad that you featured it today because I was finally able to learn a little bit more about it, and I just added it to my TBR! I've always loved anything that involves intelligent characters, so this one will be being read ASAP. :)

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  5. When I first saw this book, I was immediately intrigued by the cover. The icons are so simple but give out so much information (and raise so much questions!). I love me some smart characters in the books I read, so I can't wait to see how Yuri's plans fall out in America!

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  6. I haven't heard of this one but the cover makes me so curious! I hope you get to read this one early and love it :D

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  7. I LOVE the cover! Totally fits the theme of rocket scientist and teenager.

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  8. I LOVE the cover! Totally fits the theme of rocket scientist and teenager.

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  9. What a cool cover! Yuri and Dovie sound like a unique, quirky couple that will surely entertain us readers. But MAAAN, July is still so far away. D: Time, pass quickly!

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  10. Oh, that sounds like a fantastic blurb! Kind of reminds me of Tommy Wallach's WE ALL LOOKED UP. Going to add this to my TBR ASAP :).

    Jess @ Princessica of Books

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