Utopia, Iowa

by Brian Yansky

Overview

Jack Bell has an unusual gift—or curse, depending on your point of view. And he’s not the only one. In Utopia, Iowa, anything can happen.

For the most part, aspiring screenwriter Jack Bell is just your typical Midwestern kid. He’s got a crush on his hot best friend, Ash. He’s coping with a sudden frostiness between his once crazy-in-love parents. He’s debating where to go to college next year—or whether to go at all. But then there’s his gift (or curse): Jack can see dead people, just like the kid in The Sixth Sense. Lately, the ghosts are more distracting than usual, demanding that Jack get to the bottom of their mysterious deaths—all while avoiding the straitlaced Detective Bloodsmith, who doesn’t believe in gifts or curses and can’t help wondering why Jack keeps turning up at crime scenes. Is there a happily-ever-after in Jack’s future, or is that only the stuff of movies?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763674229
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	02/10/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Brian Yansky is the author of Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences and its sequel, Homicidal Aliens and Other Disappointments, as well as Wonders of the World and My Road Trip to the Pretty Girl Capital of the World. He lives in Austin, Texas.

My writing career began in kindergarten when I wrote, on a single yellow sheet from my Big Chief notebook, the unacknowledged classic, Santa Claus And The 27 Bad Boys. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I’d found my material for a lifetime of fiction writing: a stubborn fascination with the mythological and supernatural creatures that haunt and enliven our culture, an affection for odd and strange characters, and a desire to be both comic and serious.

I wrote a lot of bad fiction before I wrote some good fiction. While all this was going on, I traveled a lot and lived in a lot of places. I met a girl and fell in love and we got married. I got a couple of degrees, a BA and an MFA in writing. I found work that I like, teaching writing at Austin Community College, and that affords me time to write fiction.


Alien Invasion&Other Inconveniences was written in about five weeks—the first time. The rewriting took more than a year, and then there was more rewriting with my agent, Sara Crowe, and my editor, Jen Yoon. I got a lot of help, which most writers get and need. Lots of things changed as I revised. One thing that didn’t change was my idea that the invasion wasn’t the story. The invasion is pretty much over in the first sentence. “It takes them less time to conquer the world than it takes me to brush my teeth.” I wanted this to be about what happened after the aliens conquered the Earth. Another thing that didn’t change was the theme of blind arrogance. A lot of powerful nations on this earth have been so arrogant toward conquered peoples. They didn’t treat them like human beings. The aliens in my novel act like that toward humans. It’s quite a surprise for the humans to be treated that way.

Three Things You Might Not Know About Me:

1. The first writer I ever saw up close was Kurt Vonnegut. He didn’t see me. I was sixteen and went over to my friend Mark’s house. My friend said, “That’s Kurt Vonnegut eating dinner with my parents.” I said, “Wow, Kurt Vonnegut. Who’s Kurt Vonnegut?” He gave me Cat’s Cradle to read. It’s an amazing novel. Right after that I read the even more amazing Slaughterhouse Five, also by Kurt Vonnegut. I started to think maybe I would like to be a writer, too. I didn’t do much about it for a long time, but I did become a reader. Thank you, Kurt.

2. I have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

3. When I was young I hitchhiked around most of America, parts of Mexico, and parts of Europe. I met a lot of interesting people. I saw many, many things I’d never seen before. It was an education as important to me as college, and it was a lot cheaper and more scenic.

Editorial Reviews

Jack is a likable character set in a clever plot. Yansky’s writing is down to earth and entertaining. ... Teens looking for a good mystery with a paranormal twist will enjoy this one.
—School Library Journal

Yansky’s blend of mystery, the paranormal, and realism makes this novel’s setting truly unique. ... Jack is a likable guy... His adventures should appeal to paranormal, urban-fantasy, and romance fans.
—Booklist Online

Yansky weaves two separate stories together... The mysterious deaths and Jack’s concern over his parents’ possible divorce contribute intensity... Yansky’s climactic ending leaves many loose strings, suggesting a sequel to come.
—Publishers Weekly

Jack’s narration is deceptively low-key and laconic, his slightly slackerish disaffection bringing a wry, M. T. Anderson–esque note to this blend of noir and supernatural story. Yansky does a fine job of building the magical realism of Utopia and its combination of inhabitants who believe, those who don’t believe, and those who make money off of pretending to believe at the local Nirvana College; the Midwestern solidity adds both ironic and unironic charm.... Readers building up their nerve for Andrew Smith will find this a pleasingly creepy and likably oddball outing.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Readers will particularly enjoy the connections between current events and a famous film.
—Literacy Daily

Nifty.
—Kirkus Reviews

Funny cast of characters and clever dialogue.
—School Library Connection

From the Publisher

2014-11-11
A small town's population is paranormally gifted in this new mystery.High school senior Jack Bell balances his classes and home life while dreaming of becoming a Hollywood screenwriter. He lives in Utopia, Iowa, a small town that has one curious trait: All the residents have paranormal gifts, which may have something to do with local Nirvana College's peculiar curriculum. Jack can see the dead, and several are trying to get him to solve their murders. It's a nifty premise, but Yansky never breathes life into it. Jack goes through the gumshoe motions, but he ends up drowning in his wordy narration, which vacillates between colloquial and weirdly formal. He has a tendency toward overlong sentences and uses unnecessary flourishes that make him sound fussy rather than quirky: "Our mother accommodated my carnivorous preference by making me pot roasts and hamburgers and chicken to go with whatever arrangement of vegetables [my vegetarian family was] eating." Verbal tics, especially repeated references to movie data, further bog the story down. The central mystery never adds up to anything of real consequence, leaving the exploration of Jack's home life the lone highlight: His parents are going through a rough patch in their marriage, and the author nails the tone of a couple experiencing a frosty period. Unfortunately, this drama is only in the background, and in the end, it just peters out. Alas, not as much fun as it should be. (Paranormal mystery. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews