I have been reading, enjoying and recommending several
titles from A. S. King lately, especially Ask the Passengers (where a
young girl movingly deals with reaction to her being a lesbian) and Everybody
sees the Ants (with a dysfunctional family and “ghosts” from the Vietnam
War ) . These novels, plus King’s
recent Reality Boy are very emotion-packed and thought-provoking.
All three invite readers to look at difficult situations from varied
perspectives and offer insights about coping with bullying, rejection, and
anger. A. S. King is a high energy author -- I really enjoyed an online session
last Fall when she discussed writing Reality Boy -- it is obvious
that she cares deeply about her writing, her characters and her readers. If I
had to summarize her stories in one sentence, it would be about acceptance, seeing
past the labels and understanding the hurt.
Award winning author King’s Reality Boy made
several “best lists”, including being rated as a “Perfect 10” from Voya
in 2013 as was Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown. Students really like Brown’s Hate List
and have strongly recommended it TO me.
That novel is about emotional problems and a school tragedy and I am
looking forward to another new title from her, Torn Away which deals
with the aftermath of death and destruction from a tornado and will be
published next month.
