Learning to Swear in America
As a giant asteroid hurtles toward Los Angeles, 17-year-old physicist Yuri Strelnikov arrives from Russia to help U.S. scientists frantically working to minimize the impact. On a break, Yuri meets 16-year-old Dovie. With a purple house, a pet bird named Woodie Guthrie, and an annual celebration of Dylan’s first album release anniversary, Dovie and her free-spirited family are unlike anything analytical Yuri has known. As the scientists race against the clock, Yuri is frustrated that his untested but rigorously developed theories on anti-matter aren’t considered. When the threat parameters change, Yuri takes a staggering risk that saves the day. He’s a hero, but the U.S. government has no plans to let him go home: He was caught taking photos of the classified weapons he needed to understand in developing a solution. So Dovie and her older brother, wheelchair-user Lennon, come up with a plan. This fresh, funny book requires suspension of disbelief: everything from the ease with which Yuri moves in and out of NASA’s high-security facility to Dovie’s hippie family to the threat at the story’s heart is over the top. But Yuri and Dovie, smart and thoughtful and deep, are genuine if singular teen characters in a story that is also rich in ideas—a work both blithe and intellectually satisfying. ©2016 Cooperative Children's Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 12 and older
Age Range:
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Humor
Love and Romance
Natural Disasters
Politics and Political Systems
Russians and Russian Americans
Speculative Fiction
Diversity subject:
Physical Disability/Condition
Publisher:
Bloomsbury
Publish Year: 2016
Pages: 340
ISBN: 9781619639096
CCBC Location: Fiction, Kennedy