Astrid Jones is a teenager in a small Pennsylvania town where everyone gossips. She has a secret: she is attracted to a girl at work, Dee, and she is afraid of how her friends and her mother, who is critical and controlling, will react. To handle the pressure, Astrid lies on a picnic table and sends her love to passengers on planes flying overhead, imagining their lives. A.S. King mixes realism with a light touch of philosophical thinking, including conversations with Socrates, and examines sexuality, honesty and small-town expectations.
Teenagers working out who they are, and readers of young-adult fiction about coming out, will find a thoughtful, tender story.
Inward-looking; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2012
- Language
- EN
