Of Jenny and the Aliens

by Ryan Gebhart

Overview

When boy meets girl meets alien, the angst of first love gets an extraterrestrial intervention in a tale both outrageously funny and full of heart.

Ten years after Earth sent messages out into deep space, there has been an answer. Music from a distant planet has reached our radios. Are aliens about to invade? No one knows, and almost-eighteen-year-old Derek doesn’t really care, because at a wild end-of-the-world party, Jennifer Novak invites him to play beer pong. And things . . . progress from there. Derek is in love. Deeply, hopelessly in love. He wants it all—marriage, kids, growing old on a beach in Costa Rica. Jenny is The One.
But Jenny has other plans, and they may or may not include Derek. He’ll try anything to win her—even soliciting advice from the alien who shows up in his hometown. This alien might just be the answer to Derek’s problem. But is Derek willing to risk starting an interstellar war just to get the girl? And just how far will he travel to discover the mysteries of the universe—and love?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763688455
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	08/01/2017
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	15 - 17 Years

About the Author

Ryan Gebhart is the author of the middle-grade novel There Will Be Bears. About Of Jenny and the Aliens, he says, “This book is not autobiographical in any way . . . except for that one time I smoked up with an alien.” Ryan Gebhart lives in Ohio.

Editorial Reviews

This perfectly off-kilter love story is ideal for jaded, philosophically minded teens as well as those who would appreciate the madcap genius of stealing shopping carts to turn them into gaming chairs.
—Booklist (starred review)

Teens should find his confusion about romantic, fraternal, and familial love relatable, and Gebhart keeps the love story fresh with aliens, interstellar hallucinogens, and surreal imagery, including one long sequence in which Derek follows Karo to Pud 5. Recommended for adventurous YA readers, especially those looking for a realistic teen male voice.
—School Library Journal

Aliens from Alpha Centauri have made first contact, and everyone on Earth is on edge. But amid fears that it’s the end of the world, 17-year-old Derek is focused on his crush, Jenny...As these two storylines intertwine, the juxtaposition of Derek’s dizzying rush into first love and a potential alien invasion touches off some of the same base instincts in Gebhart’s characters.
—Publishers Weekly

Of Jenny and the Aliens by Ryan Gebhart (There Will Be Bears) is a hilarious and wildly imaginative romp through first love and first contact. Gebhart's characters are realistic and their actions and reactions believable...Gebhart's aliens are a breath of fresh air, particularly Karo and his odd penchant for the Cleveland Browns and all things humanity-related. Gebhart's bold, slightly crude humor is a highlight in this wonderfully entertaining and memorable tale not to be missed.
—Shelf Awareness for Readers

Original and witty.
—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

08/01/2017
Gr 10 Up—The United States is on the verge of war. Beings from a distant planet called Pud 5 have just contacted Earth. Derek's dad and half brother are coming up to Ohio for a last-minute Thanksgiving visit. And Derek is madly in love with Jennifer Novak. Somehow, that last problem is the one consuming Derek, the hormonal narrator of Gebhart's funny, occasionally psychedelic novel about the cosmic angst of young love and adolescent egomania. When Derek hooks up with Jenny after an end-of-the-world party, he's surprised at the deep connection he feels. Nothing can distract him for his quest to win Jenny's devotion, not even a face-to-face encounter with a stoner alien named Karo. He's so desperate to preserve what they have, he's even willing to beg Karo for a cosmic intervention. This is more than an account of one teenager's single-minded sex drive—in between his daydreams and questionable choices with controlled substances, Derek is a big-hearted, sympathetic kid with a unique, if immature, view of the world. Teens should find his confusion about romantic, fraternal, and familial love relatable, and Gebhart keeps the love story fresh with aliens, interstellar hallucinogens, and surreal imagery, including one long sequence in which Derek follows Karo to Pud 5. VERDICT Recommended for adventurous YA readers, especially those looking for a realistic teen male voice.—Abigail Garnett, Brooklyn Public Library

School Library Journal

2017-05-24
Beings from Alpha Centauri have made contact with Earth. Also Derek keeps getting to touch Jennifer Novak's boobs. Ever since the Centaurians from Pud 5 sent their message to Earth, narrator Derek's classmates in Maumee, Ohio, have been focused on nihilistic partying. (It's not clear if Derek's high school years have ever been much more than nihilistic partying or, at least, more than playing "Mario Kart" while getting wasted on weed, beer, and occasional shrooms or acid). Derek (white by default) is not sure why Jenny, a stunning white redhead, wants his inexperienced ass, but she apparently does; she crushes him in beer pong, takes him home from a party, and relieves him of his virginity. Instantly infatuated, Derek decides she's his girlfriend and thinks of her as if she's a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Though he's angry when his friends slut-shame Jenny, once Derek realizes he's not her only sexual partner, he's alternatingly needy and cruel. Meanwhile, he's befriended a little gray alien from Pud 5. While the United States ramps up for war with a fictional Middle Eastern country, Derek begs his alien friend to create world peace so Jenny won't leave him. The alien plot's original and witty, but this feels primarily like a vehicle for faux-philosophizing in which Derek never, even post-epiphany, sees girls as actual people. Alternately entertaining and repellent. (Science fiction. 15-18)

Kirkus Reviews