Name: Learning to Swear in America
ISBN: 9781619639119

Katie Kennedy

Brimming with humor and one-of-a-kind characters, this end-of-the-world debut novel will grab hold of Andrew Smith and Rainbow Rowell fans.

Learning to Swear in America

Brimming with humor and one-of-a-kind characters, this end-of-the-world debut novel will grab hold of Andrew Smith and Rainbow Rowell fans. An asteroid is hurtling toward Earth. A big, bad one. Maybe not kill-all-the-dinosaurs bad, but at least kill-everyone-in-California-and-wipe-out-Japan-with-a-tsunami bad. Yuri, a physicist prodigy from Russia, has been recruited to aid NASA as they calculate a plan to avoid disaster. The good news is Yuri knows how to stop the asteroid--his research in antimatter will probably win him a Nobel prize if there's ever another Nobel prize awarded. But the trouble is, even though NASA asked for his help, no one there will listen to him. He's seventeen, and they've been studying physics longer than he's been alive. Then he meets (pretty, wild, unpredictable) Dovie, who lives like a normal teenager, oblivious to the impending doom. Being with her, on the adventures she plans when he's not at NASA, Yuri catches a glimpse of what it means to save the world and live a life worth saving. Also by Katie Kennedy: What Goes Up

Jeni Enjaian

I have a hard time recalling a book with more flat characters than this one. The only reason I give this book two stars instead of one is because the last few chapters had some laugh out loud moments, legitimately funny quips. 
Kennedy states in the author's note at the end of the book that she spent SO much time researching this book. I have no idea what she researched, most likely the science, the part of the book least likely to make for a compelling story. Since I do not have much scientific background, I do not know if she got the science right. However, I do teach English for a living and I know that she utterly failed on character development. Every single one of the characters, including Yuri, have absolutely zero dimensions to them other than the ones you first meet.
I do not recommend this book at all.

Addison Degginger

An asteroid is hurtling toward Earth. A big, bad one. Maybe not kill-all-the-dinosaurs bad, but at least kill-everyone-in-California-and-wipe-out-Japan-with-a-tsunami bad. Yuri, a physicist prodigy from Russia, has been recruited to aid NASA as they calculate a plan to avoid disaster. The good news is Yuri knows how to stop the asteroid--his research in antimatter will probably win him a Nobel prize if there's ever another Nobel prize awarded. But the trouble is, even though NASA asked for his help, no one there will listen to him. He's seventeen, and they've been studying physics longer than he's been alive. Then he meets (pretty, wild, unpredictable) Dovie, who lives like a normal teenager, oblivious to the impending doom. Being with her, on the adventures she plans when he's not at NASA, Yuri catches a glimpse of what it means to save the world and live a life worth saving. Prepare to laugh, cry, cringe, and have your mind burst open with the questions of the universe.

Learning to Swear in America

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