Altadena Library District

Ask the passengers : a novel /

by King, A. S. (Amy Sarig).
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookPublisher: New York : Little, Brown, 2012Edition: 1st ed.Description: 293 p. ; 22 cm.ISBN: 9780316194686 (hardback) :; 0316194689 (hardback).Title notes: $17.99 11-2012 (db)Subject(s): Love -- Fiction | Lesbians -- Fiction | Family problems -- Fiction | Prejudices -- Fiction | Gossip -- Fiction | High schools -- Fiction | Schools -- Fiction | Man-woman relationships -- Juvenile fiction | Lesbians -- Juvenile fiction | Families -- Juvenile fiction | Prejudices -- Juvenile fiction | Gossip -- Juvenile fiction | High schools -- Juvenile fiction | Schools -- Juvenile fiction | Young adult fictionSummary: "Astrid Jones copes with her small town's gossip and narrow-mindedness by staring at the sky and imagining that she's sending love to the passengers in the airplanes flying high over her backyard. 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"-- Provided by publisher.
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Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Status Date due Barcode
Books Books Altadena Main Library
Young Adult Collection Young Adult Fiction YA FIC KIN Available 39270003711409

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

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. <br> 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. <br> 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.

$17.99 11-2012 (db)

"Astrid Jones copes with her small town's gossip and narrow-mindedness by staring at the sky and imagining that she's sending love to the passengers in the airplanes flying high over her backyard. 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"-- Provided by publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Horn Book Review

Astrid would be the quintessential Q-for-Questioning girl in her high school's LGBTQ support group if her small-town, small-minded school had such a thing -- and the gay question is only one of many weighing her down. When her humanities teacher explains that learning the Socratic method "will be a time of asking questions and not rushing to answer thema time of thinking and not knowing," Astrid muses, "Perfect for meI am the not knowing queen." Socrates himself starts making periodic appearances, visible only to Astrid (who calls him Frank). Frequently driven outside by her nuthouse of a family, Astrid reclines on a picnic table and watches airplanes. She sends her questions and her love (because "it feels good to love a thing and not expect anything back") to the passengers; each time, readers get a glimpse of a passenger's own struggle with the question Astrid has asked -- plus his or her satisfying epiphany, reached after experiencing a sudden sensation of love. As in Printz Honor recipient King's previous novels, including Everybody Sees the Ants (rev. 1/12), these moments not only add humor to the book's societal critique but also provide vivid images that heighten the story's emotion. Astrid ultimately decides not to live a lie, as her closeted best friend Kristina has done for years, but wonders whether she can handle people's reactions; she can (evident when she introduces girlfriend Dee to her family), and the book ends with Astrid's skyward message to a young lesbian being flown to "gay conversion camp": "Stay strong." It's a fine conclusion to a furiously smart and funny coming-out-and-of-age novel. jennifer m. brabander (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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