Aisle Nine

by Ian X. Cho Narrated by Jacob McNatt

Overview

*A William C. Morris Award Finalist*

It's Black Friday-and the apocalypse is on sale!

Ever since the world filled with portals to hell and bloodthirsty demons started popping out on the reg, Jasper's life has gotten worse and worse. A teenage nobody with no friends or family, he is plagued by the life he can't remember and the person he's sure he's supposed to be.

Jasper spends his days working as a checkout clerk at the Here for You discount mart, where a hell portal in aisle nine means danger every shift. But at least here he can be near the girl he's crushing on-Kyle Kuan, a junior member of the monster-fighting Vanguard-who seems to hate Jasper for reasons he can't remember or understand.

But when Jasper and Kyle learn they both share a frightening vision of the impending apocalypse, they're forced to team up and uncover the uncomfortable truth about the hell portals and the demons that haunt the world. Because the true monsters are not always what they seem, the past is not always what we wish, and, like it or not, on Black Friday all hell will break loose, starting in aisle nine.

Rising star Ian X. Cho delivers an unforgettably freaky and hilarious YA debut with Aisle Nine, perfect for fans of Grasshopper Jungle or The Last of Us.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

An intriguing corporate military state apocalypse fueled by nightmares and served with a side of romance.” — Kirkus Reviews

"Regardless of the reader's age, the call to fight hopelessness and change the world, even when obstacles seem insurmountable, is one that will resonate." — Booklist

“Cho ably balances the horrors of actual demons with the evils of late-stage capitalism, trusting readers to catch the monsters on both sides.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Nominee for the 2025-2026 Green Mountain Book Award — 2025-2026 Green Mountain Book Award

Finalist for the 2025 Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Novel — Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Novel

Shortlisted for the 2025–2026 Morning Calm Medal - High School — 2025–2026 Morning Calm Medal - High School

Nominee for the 2025 Massachusetts Teen Choice Book Award — 2025 Massachusetts Teen Choice Book Award

Kirkus Reviews

2024-07-04
In this debut, a 17-year-old store clerk tries to avoid the hell portal in aisle nine.

After sustaining head trauma, Jasper wakes with no memory of the past. He finds evidence that his parents died on Hell Portal Day, which fell on Christmas nearly two years ago, when tens of thousands of portals to hell suddenly opened all around the world. Jasper stumbles back into his job at Sundown City’s Here For You mart, the site of one particularly menacing portal. The portals periodically spew out more violent demons, which are barely kept at bay by the Vanguard Corporation. All of this has become quite normal for the general public, but Jasper is haunted by a recurring image of four wraiths—and a sense that things are about to get worse. Humor and late-20th-century pop-culture references lighten the tone: Jasper’s roommate is a talking cat plushie, for example. As is often the case with this genre, plot takes precedence over character development. Jasper is understandably something of a blank slate, and the rest of the cast is filled largely with stock types. Still, the plot twists are clever enough to keep the pages turning. Kyle, the main girl character (and potential love interest), is Taiwanese American; Jasper has “floppy dark hair and darker eyes.”

An intriguing corporate military state apocalypse fueled by nightmares and served with a side of romance.(Fiction. 12-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940160538242
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/24/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged

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