An honest look at an inner life

King, A. S. (2012). Ask the passengers: A novel. New York, NY: Little, Brown. Astrid feels out of pace in her dysfunctional family and in hr community. Her mother seems to care more about keeping up with the Jones, her younger sister tires to live up to her mother's ideal, while her father gets stoned in the attic when he says he's doing 'chores. Since her family seems to care little for her love, she sends it freely to the planes flying far overhead.

Astrid also has secrets of her own. Friends Kristina and Justin both have their own secret same sex relationships, but pretend to date each other, which they accomplish with Astrid's help. And Astrid is falling in love with Dee, a girl she works with.

King takes us inside Astrid's inner thoughts as she struggles with her burgeoning relationship with Dee and how it might define her in the small town of Unity. The novel explores the difficulty faced by teens who may need to come out as gay or openly having a same-sex relationship.