Aisle Nine
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
*A William C. Morris Award Finalist*
It’s Black Friday—and the apocalypse is on sale!
Ever since the world filled with portals to hell and bloodthirsty demons started popping out on the reg, Jasper’s life has gotten worse and worse. A teenage nobody with no friends or family, he is plagued by the life he can’t remember and the person he’s sure he’s supposed to be.
Jasper spends his days working as a checkout clerk at the Here for You discount mart, where a hell portal in aisle nine means danger every shift. But at least here he can be near the girl he’s crushing on—Kyle Kuan, a junior member of the monster-fighting Vanguard—who seems to hate Jasper for reasons he can’t remember or understand.
But when Jasper and Kyle learn they both share a frightening vision of the impending apocalypse, they’re forced to team up and uncover the uncomfortable truth about the hell portals and the demons that haunt the world. Because the true monsters are not always what they seem, the past is not always what we wish, and, like it or not, on Black Friday all hell will break loose, starting in aisle nine.
Rising star Ian X. Cho delivers an unforgettably freaky and hilarious YA debut with Aisle Nine, perfect for fans of Grasshopper Jungle or The Last of Us.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Portals to hell have become commonplace since thousands of them appeared two years ago in Cho's satirical workplace-apocalypse horror debut. Now that the portals—and the demons they unleashed—are mostly under control thanks to Vanguard, a weapon and surveillance manufacturer, humans have adjusted to a new normal. Meanwhile, Jasper, 17, remembers nothing about his life before the amnesia-inducing head injury he sustained five months ago. The humdrum of his everyday is only broken up by the portal in aisle nine of Here for You Mart, the big-box discount store where he works. He's also been shoring up the courage to talk to taciturn 17-year-old Kyle, who is a part of the Vanguard that oversees the portals. When Jasper starts having nightmarish visions of an upcoming apocalypse, the normally disengaged teen finds himself leading the charge to stop doomsday. Cho skillfully builds a bizarre world grounded by contemporary ideals; the absurdity of Jasper working retail in dystopian circumstances serves as a piercing commentary on capitalistic values, resulting in a quickly paced, laugh-out-loud read. Kyle is Taiwanese American; Jasper has "floppy dark hair and darker eyes." Ages 13–up.
