Ask the Passengers

Title: Ask The Passenger
Author: A.S. King
Published: Oct 2012
ISBN: 9780316194686
Price: 17.99
Genre: realistic fiction, GLBT
Reading Level: 8th grade 
Interest Level: 10-12th grade
Awards: 
Plot Summary: Astrid Jones hates living in her small town. Years ago Astrid's mother decided to move them from New York City to Unity Valley into their mother's childhood home. Astrid's mother is too busy working from home or being best friends with Astrid's younger sister, Ellis, to care much about Astrid. Astrid's father is just trying to survive Astrid's mom and spends most his time getting high in the garage. So Astrid spends her time laying on the picnic table in the backyard staring up at the planes overhead. Astrid sends all her love to the passengers flying overhead. She knows that they can't reject her love or love her back, instead she can just send all her love to them. In school she spends time with her friend's, the school couple, Kristina and Justin. Everyone thinks Kristina and Justin are the cutest couple but Astrid holds on to their secret. Astrid also has another secret, one that she isn't even sure herself. Astrid might be gay, and even though she enjoys kissing Dee, the girl she works with, she still isn't sure if she's gay. Astrid struggles to find her identity, to feel like she is loved. Instead Astrid would rather send her love to strangers, because at least they won't reject her.
Review: A.S. King has an amazing talent of writing characters that feel raw and honest. Astrid Jones is one of these honest characters. I felt like I got to know all of Astrid's fears and feelings and that she felt like a real person. Astrid's struggles to love herself or feel like she is loved. When you see how Astrid's mom treats her you can see why Astrid might struggle with acceptance. The part of the story I think that is the most honest and well written is Astrid's struggle with her sexuality. Often times books with gay teens have them knowing they are gay since they were young, where Astrid isn't sure. Even when confronted about being in love with a girl Astrid can't say she's gay. Astrid doesn't want to put herself into a box or to label herself, she just wants to be Astrid. She asks a lot of honest questions about sexuality and what it means. This story focuses on love and acceptance and what it all means. By the end of the story you can't help feeling like staring up at planes and send your love to passengers.
Reader's Annotation: Astrid sometimes feels like she isn't loved so she gives her love away. Astrid sends her love to the passengers in the planes that fly overhead.
Bibliotherapeutic usefulness: This story is so very honest about love and acceptance and relationships. Astrid struggles to love herself and to feel love from those around her. Readers will connect with Astrid's honesty. Teens that may be confused about their sexuality will find comfort in Astrid's personal struggle. Her family isn't exactly the most accepting about her possibly being a lesbian, especially her sister who feels her reputation has been ruined. The story also deals with gossip, especially in a small town, and how hurtful the words of others can be. An aspect of the story that I also think is useful is that Astrid doesn't just engage in sex without thought. She actually stops her girlfriend Dee many times and they talk about dealing with being ready to have sex. I think teens need to see that you should have a discussion about having sex with your partner, unlike in most books where it just happens is seems without much thought or discussion.
Issues: The main issue is that of Astrid's sexuality and the other gay teens in the story. You have Kristina and Justin who are pretending to be together but are both gay and use their relationship as cover. There is some people in the town who are quite negative about the gay community and the terms used can be upsetting to some. There is also some sexual scenes between Astrid and her girlfriend. The story also includes teen drinking and lying to get into a gay club. While there isn't a lot of foul language there is some, there is one particular scene when Astrid finally comes out by screaming the f-word and announcing she is gay at school.
Book Talk Ideas: Some of the most powerful parts in the book are the reactions by the passengers when Astrid sends her love to them in the plane. The passengers feel a sudden feeling of love. For the book talk I would start by reading one of these passages out loud and then talking about Astrid's way of sending love to strangers because she doesn't feel loved.
Main Themes: sexual identity, love, relationships, family, small towns
Read-alikes: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Author Website: http://www.as-king.com/
Professional Reviews:  Kirkus Reviews
Publisher's Weekly
Why this book was chosen: I have been a fan of A.S. King since Please Ignore Vera Dietz. I really enjoy how her stories are very character driven and emotional. I think she rights in a way that appeals to fans of Sarah Dessen and John Green. When I heard that she had written a book about a girl who was struggling with her sexuality I knew I had to read it because I knew she would handle the topic very well.