ASK THE PASSENGERS has won the 2012 L.A. Times Book Prize!
Coming in October 2013: REALITY BOY
“Timely, incisive, compassionate. All of A.S. King’s novels are must-reads.”—Matthew Quick, New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook
Gerald Faust knows exactly when he started feeling angry: the day his mother invited a reality television crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he’s still haunted by his rage-filled youth—which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle—and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school.
Nothing is ever going to change. No one cares that he’s tried to learn to control himself, and the girl he likes has no idea who he really is. Everyone’s just waiting for him to snap…and he’s starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that.
In this fearless portrayal of a boy on the edge, highly acclaimed Printz Honor author A.S. King explores the desperate reality of a former child “star” who finally breaks free of his anger by creating possibilities he never knew he deserved.
ASK THE PASSENGERS
Winner of the 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prize
Available now!
2012 Los Angeles Book Prize winner, 2013 Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices pick, A 2012 Lambda Literary Award Finalist, A 2013 Capitol Choices book, An ALA GLBTRT Rainbow List Top Ten pick, A Kirkus Best Book of 2012, A School Library Journal Best Book of 2012, A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2012, A Library Journal Best Books 2012: Young Adult Literature for Adults book, Six starred trade reviews, A Fall 2012 Junior Library Guild Selection, A Fall 2012 Indie Next List Pick, A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults pick, 2014 Rhode Island Teen Book Award nominee, a Carolyn Field Award nominee...
* "King continues to expertly plumb the lovely numbness of a young person struck by emotional paralysis. ... Another thoughtful, and often breathtaking achievement."--Booklist (starred)
* "King has created an intense, fast-paced, complex and compelling novel about sexuality, politics and societal norms that will force readers outside their comfort zones. . . Quite possibly the best teen novel featuring a girl questioning her sexuality written in years." --Kirkus Reviews (starred)
* "Funny, provocative, and intelligent, King’s story celebrates love in all of its messy, modern complexity."--Publishers Weekly (starred)
* "King’s thoughtful, sad, funny, and frank book will appeal to ... anyone who wants to define herself on her own terms." --School Library Journal (starred)
* “For kids still 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.”—Bulletin for the Center for Children’s Books (starred)
* "A furiously smart and funny coming-out-and-of-age novel."—The Horn Book (starred)
* "Printz Honor author A.S. King has delivered yet another YA novel that may well have booksellers chasing customers around the store to handsell it."—Shelf Awareness (starred)
Astrid Jones copes with her small town's gossip and narrow-mindedness by sending her 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.
> > >
A dozen stories for adults featuring a mouthful of lottery tickets, a giant cow, two yachts, a six-pack of Fresca, and Monica, who never shuts up.
When Liz and Reg find their dream house, they don’t expect to find Lois and her magical Fresca. Same as Deirdre doesn’t expect to find what she finds in the trash bin. Debra can’t help but send pieces of herself to her ex-husband same as Jim can’t help thinking about the pieces of men that are taken without permission.
Award-winning author A.S. King shares her short fiction including the Best New American Voices-nominated title track, “Monica Never Shuts Up” and keeps us thinking, exploring, and laughing all at the same time.
Also available in paperback. Ask your local indie bookstore to order it!
EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS Paperback In Stores Now.
2012 ALA/YALSA Top Ten Books for Young Adults pick, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults pick, A Junior Library Guild Selection, A 2012 Carolyn W. Field Honor Book, A Cybils Award Finalist, A Capitol Choices Pick, An Andre Norton Award Nominee, a Pennsylvania School Librarian Association's 2011 Top 40 List, A 2013 Tayshas High School Reading List Pick, Gateway Award Nominee, Oregon Reader's Choice Award Nominee,
Children's Choice Award for Keystone to Reading Book Award for the Keystone State Reading Association...
....
* "Blending magic and realism, this is a subtly written, profoundly honest novel about a kid falling through the cracks and pulling himself back up."—Booklist (starred)
* “King remarkably channels fifteen-year-old Lucky, creating one of the most believable teen male characters in young adult fiction.”—VOYA (starred)
* “It’s a smart, funny, and passionate novel that embodies the idea that “It Gets Better”—when you take action.” --Publishers Weekly (starred)
* “King's heartfelt tale easily blends realism and fantasy.... A haunting but at times funny tale about what it means to want to take one's life, but rising above it so that living becomes the better option.”—School Library Journal (starred)
* "Compelling food for thought about the things we can control and the things we can’t." —BCCB (Starred)
* "King’s themes of torture, physical and emotional imprisonment, and bullying connect in satisfying ways in this improbably witty and heartwarming story."—The Horn Book (Starred)
Books on Audio from Listening Library
Go to the A.S. King page at Random House Listening Library for a selection of audiobooks.
PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ
Winner of the Michael L. Printz Honor
Paperback Edition -- In Stores Now.
Michael L. Printz Honor Book 2011, A Junior Library Guild selection for Fall 2010, An Edgar Allen Poe Award nominee, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults pick, Indie Next List Pick for Teens, Kirkus Reviews Best Books for Teens 2010, Cooperative Children's Book Center's CCBC Choices 2011. . .
Eighteen-year-old Vera's spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she's kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything.
So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, or even the police. But will she emerge and clear his name? Does she even want to?
An edgy, gripping story, Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an unforgettable novel: smart, funny, dramatic, and always surprising.
DEAR BULLY: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories -- In stores now.
"With authority often turning a blind eye and cyber-bullying rampant, this timely collection is an excellent resource, especially for group discussion, and the appended, annotated list of websites and further reading extends its usefulness." --Booklist
"This anthology of personal essays provides empathetic and heartfelt stories from each corner of the schoolyard: the bullied, the bystander and the bully himself are all represented. Their words will be a welcome palliative or a wise pre-emptive defense against the trials of adolescent social dynamics."
--New York Times
"Powerful...All of these stories feel authentic and honest, and readers will find a story or a person to identify with, to look to for comfort or guidance."--School Library Journal
EDUCATOR RESOURCES
Download the ASK THE PASSENGERS Discussion Guide HERE.
Download the EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS Discussion Guide HERE.
Download the PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ Discussion Guide HERE.
Download the THE DUST OF 100 DOGS Discussion Guide HERE.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPH:
This print, "Corona I" ©1994 Mark D. Thellmann, has been hanging above my desk since I started writing. Mark was a teacher of mine at the Art Institute of Philadelphia back when cameras had film.
It's an enlarged reproduction of a manipulated Time-Zero Polaroid, which means the original was hand- manipulated as opposed to computer manipulated, and exists as a one-of-a-kind.
Probably somewhere in New Jersey.
