Where to Start Reading Andrew Smith
For readers diving into Andrew Smith's bibliography for the first time, your entry point depends on your appetite for the bizarre. Smith is famous for blending gritty coming-of-age realism with highly surreal, often absurd sci-fi twists.
If you want his absolute signature work—the book that encapsulates his voice, dark humor, and chaotic imagination—start with Grasshopper Jungle (2014). It is a Printz Honor book and a modern young adult classic about teenage identity and giant mutant insects.
If you prefer a contemporary story that is deeply emotional and grounded, start with Winger (2013). This boarding-school novel about a fourteen-year-old rugby player showcases Smith's ability to capture authentic adolescent vulnerability, delivering both laugh-out-loud comedy and devastating heartbreak.
For younger readers, the middle-grade novel The Size of the Truth (2019) offers a gentler, yet still characteristically quirky, introduction to his storytelling style.
The Grasshopper Jungle Duology
This is the apocalyptic series that solidified Smith's reputation as a fearless voice in YA literature. The series consists of two novels:
- Grasshopper Jungle (2014)
- Exile from Eden: Or, After the Hole (2019)
In Grasshopper Jungle, we meet Austin Szerba, a teenager in Ealing, Iowa, who is trying to understand his own sexuality while managing feelings for both his male best friend and his girlfriend. The stakes escalate when Austin and his friend accidentally unleash a plague of six-foot-tall, unstoppable, and highly reproductive praying mantises. The sequel, Exile from Eden, takes place sixteen years later. It focuses on Austin's son, Ares, who was born inside the subterranean bunker where the remnants of humanity survived the insect apocalypse. Readers must read these books in publication order, as the sequel builds directly on the post-apocalyptic lore of the first book.
The Winger and Sam Abernathy Crossover Universe
This universe is unique because it bridges two distinct target audiences: Young Adult and Middle Grade. The characters overlap across the books, creating a rewarding experience for readers who follow the connections.
The YA books focus on Ryan Dean West:
- Winger (2013)
- Stand-Off (2015)
Winger introduces Ryan Dean as a fourteen-year-old junior at Pine Mountain, a boarding school where he plays rugby and deals with being younger than his classmates. Stand-Off follows him during his senior year, where he is forced to roommate with Sam Abernathy, a twelve-year-old freshman who is obsessed with cooking and suffers from severe claustrophobia.
The Middle Grade books focus on Sam Abernathy:
- The Size of the Truth (2019)
- Bye-bye, Blue Creek (2020)
The Size of the Truth is a prequel to Sam's time at boarding school. It details his life as an eleven-year-old dealing with the trauma of falling down a well when he was younger. Bye-bye, Blue Creek follows Sam during his eighth-grade year, showing the events leading up to his enrollment at Pine Mountain.
Older readers should start with Winger and Stand-Off, then read the Sam Abernathy books as fun prequels. Younger readers can start with The Size of the Truth and Bye-bye, Blue Creek, but should be cautioned that Winger and Stand-Off contain mature language and themes suitable only for older teens.
The Marbury Lens Series
The Marbury Lens is Andrew Smith's darkest, most intense work, exploring trauma, dissociation, and alternate dimensions. The reading order for this series is:
- The Marbury Lens (2010)
- King of Marbury (2012)
- Passenger (2012)
The series begins with Jack, who survives a terrifying kidnapping attempt. Afterward, a stranger gives him a pair of glasses that reveals a war-torn, apocalyptic world called Marbury. Jack finds himself repeatedly pulled into this violent realm. King of Marbury is a companion novella told from the perspective of Conner Kirk, providing essential background on the origins of the alternate world. Passenger is the direct sequel, concluding Jack's struggle to close the boundaries between the real world and Marbury. For the best experience, read the companion novella between the two main novels to fully grasp the lore.
Andrew Smith's Standalone Novels
Aside from his series, Smith has written several standalone novels. They range from realistic historical fiction to surreal road trips:
- Ghost Medicine (2008) - Smith's debut novel. A realistic coming-of-age story about three friends spending their last summer together on a ranch in New Mexico.
- In the Path of Falling Objects (2009) - A gritty thriller set in 1970. Two brothers travel across the desert during the Vietnam War, hitching a ride with an unstable couple.
- Stick (2011) - A story about Stark McClellan, a teen born with a physical deformity, who runs away to find his older brother Bosten after their abusive father beats him.
- 100 Sideways Miles (2014) - Finn Easton has epilepsy and lives in the shadow of his father's bestselling book. He embarks on a quirky road trip to establish his own identity.
- The Alex Crow (2015) - A complex, multi-threaded narrative that connects a Middle Eastern refugee boy, a strange summer camp, an ill-fated Arctic expedition, and a resurrected crow.
- Rabbit & Robot (2018) - A bizarre, sci-fi adventure about two boys and an unstable AI robot on a luxury spacesuit cruiser while Earth undergoes a reset.
- The Pet Therapist (2022) - A short, philosophical story about a famous author searching for his lost cat and finding unexpected universal connections.
What to Know Before You Start
Smith's style is frequently compared to Kurt Vonnegut because of his dark comedy, non-linear narratives, and blending of the ordinary with the absurd. Readers should be prepared for raw dialogue, honest depictions of teenage sexuality, and intense themes of trauma and grief. The books do not sugarcoat the difficulties of growing up, but they balance this darkness with humor and genuine human connection.