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Item Barcode | Collection | Call Number | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33607003045468 | Young Adult | KING | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
In this truly original portrayal of a girl struggling to break free of society's definitions, Printz Honor author A.S. King asks readers to question everything --and offers hope to those who will never stop seeking real love.
Astrid Jones desperately wants to confide in someone, but her mother's pushiness and her father's lack of interest tell her they're the last people she can trust. Instead, Astrid spends hours lying on the backyard picnic table watching airplanes fly overhead. She doesn't know the passengers inside, but they're the only people who won't judge her when she asks them her most personal questions . . . like what it means that she's falling in love with a girl. As her secret relationship becomes more intense and her friends demand answers, Astrid has nowhere left to turn. She can't share the truth with anyone except the people at thirty thousand feet, and they don't even know she's there. But little does Astrid know just how much even the tiniest connection will affect these strangers' lives--and her own--for the better.
Author Notes
A. S. (Amy Sarig) King is an award-winning author of both YA and adult fiction. She was born on March 10, 1970, in Reading, PA., and obtained a degree in traditional photography from the Art Institute of Philadelphia.
King wrote her first novel in 1994, but it took her 15 years and more than seven novels to finally get published. Since then, her books have garnered many accolades. Ask the Passengers won the 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Award for Young Adult Literature. Please Ignore Vera Dietz was a 2011 Michael L. Printz Honor Book, an Edgar Award Nominee, a Junior Library Guild selection and a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults pick. Her first YA novel, The Dust of 100 Dogs, was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and a Cybil Award finalist.
Her other titles include: I Crawl Through it, Glory O'Brien's History of the Future, Reality Boy, and Everybody Sees the Ants. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous collections and anthologies, including: Monica Never Shuts up, One Death, Nine stories, Losing It, Break These Rules, and Dear Bully.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-High school senior Astrid Jones is more than ready to leave the small town of Unity Valley, PA, and return to New York City. While her mother works obsessively from her home office, her father smokes pot in the garage, and her sister lives out the life of a small-town girl, Astrid spends hours lying on the backyard picnic table sending her love and her questions to the passengers of the planes she sees overhead. They are the only ones she can confide in about the secrets she keeps: the truth about her best friends, Kristina and Justin, and their picture-perfect relationship; how she really feels about the growing distance between herself and her family; and her attraction to her co-worker, Dee, who is an out lesbian. The planes' passengers can't answer her questions, but Astrid turns to them as her separate worlds collide and ugly truths spill out. Devon Sorvari gives a pitch-perfect reading and her voice is the ideal complement to the dry wit of Astrid's first-person narrative. More than just another coming-out story, King's novel (Little Brown, 2012) offers thought-provoking philosophical questions that teens will ponder well after finishing the novel.-Beth Gallego, Los Angeles Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
The philosophical searching, surprising spiritual guides, and powerful observations of contemporary life that characterize previous works by King (Everybody Sees the Ants) are in full evidence in a story that's at once much more than a coming-out novel and one of the best coming-out novels in years. High school senior Astrid Jones moved from New York City to Unity Valley, Pa., with her family years ago, but it still doesn't feel like home. Astrid isn't comfortable labeling herself gay ("I'm not in this to be a member of some club. I'm not going through this so I can lock myself in the one of them box"), and the community's homophobia and aggressive rumor mill weigh heavily on her. When several secrets become public, Astrid's relationships are further strained, and she copes by silently sending love to the passengers of airplanes flying overhead (whose brief stories indicate they can sense Astrid's questions and feel the love she unleashes) and carrying on imaginary conversations with Socrates. Funny, provocative, and intelligent, King's story celebrates love in all of its messy, modern complexity. Ages 15-up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.