Friday, April 17, 2015

Ask the Passengers

King, A.S. (2012). Ask the passengers. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

Astrid Jones lives in a small town of Unity Valley, PA.  She deals daily with her mother’s pushiness and her father’s lack of interest and she desperately wants to confine in someone.  So, Astrid spends hours just lying on the backyard picnic table watching airplanes fly overhead.  She feels that the passengers on the plane are the only people who will not judge her about her secret.  It is that Astrid has feelings for a girl.  Since Astrid has no one around her, she relies on the teachings of the classic philosophers for answers.  Astrid is attracted to her coworker and likes kissing her but she is not sure what to make of it.  As their secret relationship moves along, Astrid’s friends want to want to know what is going on.  At the end, Astrid introduces Dee to her family as her girlfriend and realizes that telling the truth does set you free. Throughout the novel, Astrid’s character is discovering who she really is and that by questioning everything helps you to realize that you love yourself. 


Overall, I enjoyed the book.  I found it last summer and I placed on my reading list.  I loved reading about Astrid’s journey of realization that she is who she is and not anyone else.  Because of language, the use of drugs, alcohol and drinking and some heavy make-out sessions between Astrid and Dee this book is recommend for 10th grade and up.  This story has a good message about self-discovery and coming out about your sexual orientation.  


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