Published: August 1, 2017 by Candlewick Press
Summary:
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 the world’s 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 invited him to play beer pong, and things, well, progressed from there. Derek is in love. Deeply, hopelessly in love. He wants it all — marriage, kids, growing old on a beach in Costa Rica. For him, Jenny is the One. But Jenny has other plans, which may or may not include Derek. So Derek will try anything to win her — even soliciting advice from an alien who shows up in his hometown. This alien may just be the answer to Derek’s problem, but is Derek prepared to risk starting an interstellar war to get his girl? Just how far is he willing to travel to discover the mysteries of the universe — and the enigma of
love?
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Hey, Ryan!! I'm so excited to have you on the blog today!
Let's get the most important question out of the way—are you left-handed or right-
handed?
Righty.
Now, I've always been fascinated by alien stories. Unfortunately, I've found many stories
with alien premises blend together. What do you think makes OF JENNY AND THE
ALIENS stand out?
I think I'm too close to the story for me to unequivocally state that JENNY is unique and stands out from other alien books. All I can say is that it's about a boy's first love and humanity's first contact with another species and how our expectations of both won't match reality. It's a story about the possibility of world peace and/or an interstellar war. It's about the lengths someone will go to in order to “win” the girl. It's about our rigid standards of love versus the boundless reality of love.
Are there any lines in OF JENNY AND THE ALIENS that you're particularly proud of
and can share with us?
“Love is not a shape. There is no love triangle, no love square. Love is a network. It's a form of communication.”
What does your ideal end-of-the-world party look like?
Good food, good friends, good drinks, and my family.
If aliens really were to come to Earth, what is the one thing you hope they'd bring with
them?
Less awkward dating apps.
And what would you hope they take away from their time here?
Beer pong.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
handed?
Righty.
Now, I've always been fascinated by alien stories. Unfortunately, I've found many stories
with alien premises blend together. What do you think makes OF JENNY AND THE
ALIENS stand out?
I think I'm too close to the story for me to unequivocally state that JENNY is unique and stands out from other alien books. All I can say is that it's about a boy's first love and humanity's first contact with another species and how our expectations of both won't match reality. It's a story about the possibility of world peace and/or an interstellar war. It's about the lengths someone will go to in order to “win” the girl. It's about our rigid standards of love versus the boundless reality of love.
Are there any lines in OF JENNY AND THE ALIENS that you're particularly proud of
and can share with us?
“Love is not a shape. There is no love triangle, no love square. Love is a network. It's a form of communication.”
What does your ideal end-of-the-world party look like?
Good food, good friends, good drinks, and my family.
If aliens really were to come to Earth, what is the one thing you hope they'd bring with
them?
Less awkward dating apps.
And what would you hope they take away from their time here?
Beer pong.
Ryan Gebhart is the author of the middle-grade novel There Will Be Bears, about which Publishers Weekly said in a starred review, “Fully developed characters, complex and realistic relationships . . . and a spot-on narrative voice . . . make this story stand out. About Of Jenny and the Aliens, the author says, “This book is about first love and discovering that we're not alone in the universe, and how maybe those two things aren't that different from each other.” Ryan Gebhart lives in Ohio.
His debut young adult Of Jenny and the Aliens, about first love and discovering that we're not alone in the universe, will be released Spring 2017 with Candlewick Press.
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