From the Bookshelf of Queereaders…

Ask the Passengers

A.S. King

Why we're reading this: This is a great book about a questioning girl in a small town trying to come out to herself and her famil…more
[close] This is a great book about a questioning girl in a small town trying to come out to herself and her family and friends. I liked it.

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Jan 01, 2013 Thomas rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, realistic-fiction, lgbtq

Astrid Jones sends her love to strangers. She gives it away to passengers in the sky, because that's the only way she'll be free. Her demanding, over-controlling mother talks at her, her dad smokes pot, and her sister worries too much about her reputation to be of any help. Living in a small town has its downsides, and Astrid realizes just how damaging those downsides are when she finds herself falling in love - with a girl.

What a voice. Astrid's perception of her surroundings struck me as wise ...more

30 likes · Like · see review

Jul 01, 2014 Kate McCartney rated it liked it

Shelves: teen-fiction, audiobook, lgbtq, 2014

Astrid lives in small town U.S.A., her dad has disconnected from the family by being stoned, her mom has unhealthy, more friend than parent, relationship with her sister, and her sister seems to just follow everyone else. Her best friends are pretending to be a couple to cover up that they are both gay and are in same-sex relationships. Astrid may be in love with girl but isn't sure if that defines her. She has a lot of love that she doesn't feel she deserves so she sends to the passengers on pa Astrid lives in small town U.S.A., her dad has disconnected from the family by being stoned, her mom has unhealthy, more friend than parent, relationship with her sister, and her sister seems to just follow everyone else. Her best friends are pretending to be a couple to cover up that they are both gay and are in same-sex relationships. Astrid may be in love with girl but isn't sure if that defines her. She has a lot of love that she doesn't feel she deserves so she sends to the passengers on passing airplanes. These passengers are Astrid's confidants the only ones she can open up to and ask the questions she is unable to answer for herself.

As a whole I enjoyed the book. There were parts I thought were lacking, there times the characters drove me mad, often I wanted to shake them. This was not my story so it is hard to know if that is why it was annoying sometimes. I was never a in-the-closet teen, so maybe even if my friends and family seemed like they would have been supportive I might have still hid it. I get, Astrid fighting against being put in a box and needing a definition for herself, I think it is normal at any age to not want that. I just got annoyed with so much being her internal dialog and her not saying those things out loud to who needed to hear them.

I would have liked more development on her family, why they were so shitty. I thought not having that really took away from how they played such a large role in the book. It just seemed that other than Astrid there was little to no character development. Everyone else was superficial and so didn't really add to Astrid's character development.

What I did like were the passengers. I like the glimpses into there lives, hell they had more character development than the supporting cast. I liked those moments when they seemed to feel Astrid's love and questions. More than anything else in the book, these passengers illustrated that life isn't always easy, knowing who you are is in constant flux, feeling lost and questioning where you belong is truly universal. ...more

Like · see review

Aug 14, 2013 treehugger rated it really liked it

Shelves: young_adult, lesbian-or-lgbt-lit-or-author, own_it, coming-of-age, my_kindle, read_2016

"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."

"'So how come you didn't go to one of a hundred normal bars to dance and drink, then?' Mom says. See that? Normal Bars. As opposed to, you know, homosexual bars. I think we might have to revoke that FOTG badge, Mom."

"There are in fact two things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter ign ...more

Like · see review

Jun 11, 2012 Brian rated it really liked it

I liked this book a lot. A girl lives in a narrow minded small town where being gay is wrong to most. She has a secret girlfriend and is afraid to tell her family. But something happens to change all that. I liked the characters a lot but I didn't get the whole
Point of the passenger side story. ...more

Like · see review