Ask the Passengers

(Paperback)

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Description

Astrid Jones copes with her small town's gossip and narrow-mindedness by sending love to the passengers in the airplanes flying overhead. Maybe they'll know what to do with it. Maybe it'll make them happy. Maybe they'll need it. Her mother doesn't want it, her father's always stoned, her perfect sister's too busy trying to fit in and the people in her small town would never allow her to love the person she really wants to - another girl named Dee. There's no one Astrid feels she can talk to about this deep secret or the profound questions that she's trying to answer but little does she know just how much sending her love - and asking the right questions - will affect the passengers' lives, and her own, for the better.

In this unmistakably original portrayal of a girl struggling to break free of society's boxes and definitions, Printz Honor author A.S. King asks readers to question everything - and offers hope to those who will never stop seeking and sharing real love.

Reviews

* A furiously smart and funny coming-out-and-of-age novel.--The Horn Book, starred review
* Another thoughtful, and often breathtaking, achievement for King, whose star is ascending as quickly as one of Astrid's planes.--Booklist, starred review
* At once much more than a coming out novel and one of the best coming-out novels in years.... Funny, provocative, and intelligent, King's story celebrates love in all its messy, modern complexity.--Publishers Weekly, starred review
* For kids struggling with their own truths, it can be hard to believe how much light there is once you come out of the cave. This is a book that knows and understands that, and it's one that readers will believe.--The Bulletin, starred review
* King's thoughtful, sad, funny, and frank book...will appeal to any mature teen resisting the pressure to conform or rebel [and] anyone who wants to define herself on her own terms.--School Library Journal, starred review
* Quite possibly the best teen novel featuring a girl questioning her sexuality written in years.--Kirkus Reviews, starred review
A 2012 Publishers Weekly Best YA BookA 2012 School Library Journal Best BookA 2012 Kirkus Reviews Best YA BookA 2012 Library Journal Best YA for Adults BookA 2012 BookPage Best Children's BookA 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature WinnerA 2012 Los Angeles Public Library Best Teen BookA 2012 Lambda Literary Award FinalistA 2013 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults BookA 2013 Carolyn W. Field Award WinnerA 2013 Rainbow List Top Ten BookA 2013 Capitol Choices Noteworthy Titles for Children and Teens BookA 2013 Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices BookA 2013 James Cook Teen Book Award WinnerA 2014 Tennessee Volunteer Book Award NomineeA 2014 Texas Tayshas Reading List Top Ten BookA 2014 Milwaukee County Teen Book Award Honor BookA Junior Library Guild Selection
Astrid is a model of strength and compassion.... Good reading for everyone.--VOYA
King has penned a work of realism that is magical in the telling.--Cooperative Children's Book Center

Author Bio

A.S. King is the author of the highly acclaimed novel Everybody Sees the Ants and the Edgar Award nominated, Michael L. Printz Honor book Please Ignore Vera Dietz. She is also the author of The Dust of 100 Dogs, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. After returning from Ireland where she spent over a decade living off the land, teaching adult literacy and writing novels, King now lives deep in the Pennsylvania woods with her husband and children. Learn more at the author's website.