All You Need is Love: Ask the Passengers

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King
Little, Brown 2012

*Copy provided by Little, Brown - thank you!*

When readers first meet Astrid Jones, she's sending love to the passengers in the planes that fly over her home. She sends it up to those people and the heavens and beyond because she is convinced that she doesn't need it here.

"But it feels good to love a thing and not expect anything back. It feels good to not get an argument or any pushiness or any rumors or any bullshit. It's love without strings. It's ideal."

Because here on the ground, love seems to be so much more complicated. Her mother is hypercritical. Her little sister wants nothing to do with her. Her father's new favorite past time is getting high. And Astrid is a keeper of secrets, both her own and her friends'. Because in their small town, being gay is probably the worst thing a person can be. And Astrid isn't even sure if she is, exactly. All she knows is that she loves Dee, the girl she's secretly been dating for months.

Some people will probably be quick to label this as an LGBTQ book, or a 'coming out' book, and it is, but it's so much more than that. Astrid is asking big questions of herself and of people in general, in part because of her sexuality but also due to the fact that she is a bright teenager and is also making fantastic connections to Socrates (whom she refers to as Frank) in her high school humanities class. And that's the bigger point of this novel to me: labels are so confining, and they have a tendency to benefit the labelers rather than the subjects of the labels themselves. Again, Astrid says it best:

"Why does everything come with a strict definition? Who made all these boxes?"

I read this book over the course of an afternoon and an evening. I had every intention of spreading it out, wanting to savor it, but that simply wasn't an option for me. Astrid's insights and her struggles captivated me, and while I wasn't sure if she would get the happily ever after I felt she deserved, I wanted to know that she would at least be okay. A.S. King's writing is magical realism, not fairy tales, and here I felt that she did all of her characters justice. The story was incredibly realistic, Astrid and her supporting cast are incredibly human, and the challenges presented in this novel are all very much a part of the world outside of fiction. It all breaks my heart and restores my faith that with each passing day, if we can learn to love like Astrid, then there's still hope, and that's a very big thing to have.

I don't really know what else to say about this book other than I'm so happy it has come into my life. While it didn't hit me with quite as much force as Vera Dietz (which remains my favorite King novel), Ask the Passengers worked its way into my heart with a simple honesty and makes me think and love in new ways. I cannot thank A.S. King enough for such a gift.

And so, I'll wrap up this review by saying I highly recommend this book and leave you with these brilliant words:

"Dude, what matters is if you're happy. What matters is your future. What matters is that we get out of here in one piece. What matters is finding the truth of our own lives, not caring about what other people think is the truth of us!"

Comments welcome, and, as always, happy reading.

A.S. King's Website
A.S. King on Twitter

Wednesday Words: Getting Organized

No real big thoughts for you in this edition of Wednesday Words (what with the holidays and all). Just two pieces of news:

1. The Wednesday Words Archives are finally up! Click on the link in the header bar and you can see a list and links to all of my previous ramblings.
2. I've just joined the world of Tumblr. There are admittedly a lot of book-related posts over there, but it's also a bit more random and just things I like. Maybe it will become more focused or subject-oriented as I use it more, but right now I like that it's all over the place. You can check it out over at butinmyotherlife.tumblr.com.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my obscenely big to-read pile that is currently feeling just a bit insurmountable. eek!

Comments welcome, and, as always, happy reading!

December Book Haul

In which I share the books I've either checked out from the library or have been lucky enough to acquire!



And check out the blog post my friend Liza wrote on our Novel Cuisine Luncheon here!

Comments welcome, and, as always, happy reading!

Feeling Daring?: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Alfred A. Knopf, 2010

Dash and Lily are both New Yorkers, but in the city that never sleeps with a couple million residents, that hardly makes them neighbors. Yet each of them find themselves abandoned by their families at Christmas time and both are book lovers who frequent The Strand bookstore. It's there that Dash comes across a seemingly innocent red notebook with a few dares Lily has written inside. And so sets off a chain of events and hijinks across New York City for two teenagers during winter break.

I had no idea what to expect with this novel. All I knew was that I loved the film adaptation of one of this pair's previous novels, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, a few years ago; the premise sounded cute; and I've enjoyed the previous Levithan books I've read.

Also, we have five copies in my school's library and they are always checked out. And THAT is saying something.

So when a copy was finally checked in, I snagged it up and really enjoyed this holiday treat. I particularly love reading stories about nerdy teens, which I use as a compliment for both of these protagonists. They're smart, generally good kids who don't always make the greatest choices but are just getting used to figuring out this whole growing up thing and how life works. It was charming, and sure, at times I was cringing but only because while not everything going on was exactly realistic, the feelings that accompanied more than a few of these events were spot on.

All in all, I probably couldn't have picked a more perfect book serendipitously this time of year. A contemporary, urban, slightly dorky adventure was sweet and smart and is great for boys and girls and readers of all ages.

So Happy Holidays, comments welcome, and happy reading!

Rachel Cohn's Website
David Levithan's Website

Where's Your Bookmark? (18)

Love is the spirit of the season, so in honor of that I'm talking about Ask the Passengers by A.S. King.


Comments welcome, and, as always, happy reading!

Wednesday Words: Finally Featured!

It was a totally ordinary Friday until I opened my email. There were the usual coupons and ads and that sort of thing, but then there was something that stood out. Something I never saw coming and while it's probably not a huge deal, I'm still really excited.

The paperback edition of Cinder, the first book in The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, comes out next month. Now, I loved this book. Seriously, check out my review of it from earlier this year. I'm not usually huge into science fiction, but this kick-ass sci-fi retelling of a fairy tale in which Cinderella is a cyborg blew me away. And I'm hardly the only blogger and reader who felt this way.

Now something really cool that MacMillian, the publisher, has decided to say thanks to us bloggers in a way that is just as bad-ass as the story itself: with a page printed in the back of the paperback copy naming our blogs. Ahhh! I'm pumped. I'm stoked. I am (insert another incredibly enthusiastic and ecstatic adjective here)! I mean, half of my last name will be between the covers of a New York Times bestselling novel.

Which is why I'm now proudly displaying a new badge over in the sidebar. Thanks to all the people at MacMillian for this incredibly kind gesture, and seriously, if you haven't read Cinder yet, you really should. The series just keeps getting better (I know this because I was lucky enough to get an ARC of Scarlet, the sequel coming out in February, 2013).

Comments welcome, and, as always, happy reading!

Project for Awesome 2012

Not a book related post, but still something that means a lot to me. Every year on YouTube, the Project for Awesome takes place in which people make videos to raise awareness about charities and causes they feel are important. This is my first time participating as a vlogger, and if you could take the time to watch, I'd really appreciate it. As much as I love books, I love music just as much and being in music programs has shaped much of my life, which is why for this year's video, I talk about VH1's Save the Music Foundation.



Thanks!