Review: I Crawl Through It

By A.S. King
Available now from Little, Brown (Hachette)
Review copy
Read my A.S. King tag

From her first novel, THE DUST OF 100 DOGS, A.S. King has been interested in realistic issues but tackled them with fantastic flourishes.  With each of her novels, her popularity and critical acclaim have risen.  I love that she's taken the opportunity not to do the same thing repeatedly, but to push her work further and further into the edges.  I CRAWL THROUGH IT leaps into full surrealism.

The majority of the book is told through the point of view of Stanzi.  (Her name isn't Stanzi.)  She is split into two and finds refuge in her love of biology, always wearing a lab coat and compulsively dissecting frogs.  Some is told by China, who swallowed herself.  Some is told by Lansdowne Cruise, whose hair grows when she lies.  (She has very long hair.)  Some is told by Patricia, who is trapped in a place with no departures.  Their friend Gustav tells none of it, but he is central to the story - as is the helicopter he is building, which Stanzi can only see on Tuesdays.

It's a convoluted story, and on top of the surrealism, all of the narrators are unreliable.  Some truths are easy to find.  We all know what Irenic Brown did to China.  The details can be harder to determine, and much is left to the reader's interpretation.  King has a lot to say.  She sometimes hammers her point in, but she's often subtle.  (I do love the touch that despite there being prominent male characters, there are no male narrators.  This is a book where women's voices have primacy.)

Much is made in the blurb of I CRAWL THROUGH IT, as well as the design of the book itself, about the testing angle.  Yes, there is satire of the modern school curriculum culture.  In many ways I wouldn't pick that out as the central issue of the novel.  I think it has far more to say about how girls' voices are devalued, but maybe that's just me.

I CRAWL THROUGH IT is King's least accessible novel.  I think it accomplishes what King said out to do with it, and that her fans will have a lot of fun tangling through it.  It is definitely not my favorite King novel.  Like GLORY O'BRIEN'S HISTORY OF THE FUTURE, sometimes the polemics take over the story.  However, it is a rich read and a bold artistic statement.

Review: Glory O'Brien's History of the Future

By A.S. King
Available now from Little, Brown BFYR (Hachette)
Review copy
See my A.S. King tag

A.S. King has frequently dabbled in magical realism, and GLORY O'BRIEN'S HISTORY OF THE FUTURE brings that aspect of her style to the fore.  When Glory and her 'best friend' Ellie drink a petrified bat (long story), they start seeing visions when they look at people.  Ellie mostly sees domestic histories, but Glory sees a war coming in fifty years - a war over women's right to work, among some other women's rights.

Her work with character is as on point as ever.  Glory has just graduated high school and intends to take a gap year.  Already unsure of what she wants to do next, the fact that she doesn't see anything about her own future deepens her worries about her path in life.  She becomes obsessed with a journal that her mother left behind after committing suicide, a tome full of musings and (haunting) photos and family secrets.  The past, the present, and the future intermingle as Glory discovers all sorts of new connections between the people in her town.

Back to those scare quotes around best friend.  Ellie is a member of a commune run by her mother.  She and Glory haven't truly been close since she left to be homeschooled, but Ellie clings to Glory as her connection to life outside.  Glory is uncomfortable with the divide between them, especially Ellie's greater experience with boys.  I really liked how King explored the fraught relationship between the girls, and what the way they related to each other and their powers meant about them as people.

I didn't always find the future sections convincing.  I mean, the leader of the conservative side of the Second Civil War calls himself Nedrick the Sanctimonious.  Maybe if his enemies called him that ...  I can see the roots in current events, but still thought it was too extreme.  However, the various implications about the length and outcome of the war made it work a little better for me.  It still felt a bit far-fetched and sketchy.  At the same time, it is supposed to be sketchy since Glory only sees the future in intimate flashes.

GLORY O'BRIEN'S HISTORY OF THE FUTURE will satisfy A.S. King fans, and perhaps draw in some more who are intrigued by the stronger speculative element.  King's agenda is pretty obvious, but tempered by the nuanced way she writes Glory's present-day feminism.

Review: Reality Boy

By A.S. King
Available now from Little, Brown BFYR (Hachette)
Review copy
Read more on my A.S. King tag

A.S. King is a literary treasure.  There are few writers today who excited me half as much as her.  Oh, I love a ton of authors, don't get me wrong.  But King delivers both story and form, unusual and playful and satisfying.

REALITY BOY refers to Gerald Faust, who appeared multiple times on a nanny reality show when he was five.  He had his reasons for acting out, not that you'd know from the show.  All you'd know was that he was the Crapper.  Gerald is sixteen, almost seventeen, and angry.  Going-to-end-up-in-prison-if-he-doesn't-get-it-under-control angry.  You see, nothing changed at home.  It just got worse.  Anger management and boxing have helped Gerald, but he's still hanging out on the edge.

I loved this book.  Gerald's home life is horrifying.  His oldest sister is a memorable, strange villain, one who might've been redeemable with better parenting.  But there are some nice things.  His job is usual for a teenager, selling concessions at a local event center.  He has a crush on the girl who works at register #1.  He has Gersday, a happy place in his head that he retreats to when things get to be too much.  As his coping mechanisms start to fail, he also starts to find friends and the love and human connection he so desperately needs.

I like that REALITY BOY isn't a particularly dark book.  I mean, it isn't sunshine and roses, for sure.  But the story doesn't wallow in the worst moments.  It's often funny, and sometimes sweet.  I enjoyed how the romance worked into the plot, Gerald and his girlfriend fighting, but working through it and learning to communicate effectively with each other.  Gerald, who does have real problems, is a little self-centered about noticing that other people have problems too.

Now, REALITY BOY isn't my favorite novel by A.S. King.  That doesn't disqualify it from being one of the best books of the year.  If you're up for an intense, emotional read, then look no farther than REALITY BOY.  (And I didn't even mention how amazingly it deals with reality television and the ethics of shows starring children, who can't really consent to having their lives broadcast to millions.)

Review: Losing It

Edited by Keith Gray
Stories by A.S. King, Melvin Burgess, Keith Gray, Patrick Ness, Anne Fine, Sophie McKenzie, Bali Rai, Jenny Valentine, Mary Hooper, Andrew Smith
Available now from Carolrhoda Books (Lerner)
First published in 2010 by Anderson Press without the stories by Smith and King
Review copy

LOSING IT is a collection of ten short stories based around the concept of virginity.  It's long gone for some of the characters, and others don't lose it at all.  Some of the characters live here and now, others live long ago or far away.  To me, only a few of the stories really stood out, but it is worth buying for those stories.

A.S. King was the name that stood out the most for me, but I love her work.  I liked her raw story, about a girl who gets caught shoplifting for the total user she's dating.  While the concept of LOSING IT is mildly shocking, it's not really a shocking collection.  King's story is probably the boldest.  My biggest problem with it is that it ends far too soon.

My second favorite is Patrick Ness' story "Different for Boys."  It follows a pretty predictable path, but his teen boy voices are spot on and now that I think about it this story might be a little racy too.  I'm twenty four; I'm not sure I'm the best judge.  (Also, the Kindle galley I read had no black boxes.  Be envious, those who read the final version!)  I enjoyed the humor of the story and thought that the structure - centered around figuring out what losing it is for a gay guy - worked very well.

I was also quite fond of "Chat-Up Lines" by Melvin Burgess and "The Age of Consent" by Jenny Valentine.  Burgess' story involves a younger boy dating a popular older girl who doesn't know his age and that he's social suicide.  Valentine's involves a crazy discussion at a family dinner, where an older relative holds forth on what she knows about sex and choosing who to have it with.

My biggest disappointment was probably "The White Towel" by Bali Rai, which I've seen highly praised.  It deals with the horror of honor killings, but it's a family legend related by a relative passing it on to some friends.  The concept seems distant, just another story, instead of visceral.  I don't think the point of view worked for Anne Fine's story either, which is told by a teacher.

Keith Gray, Andrew Smith, Sophie McKenzie, and Mary Hooper's stories were all okay, although I wasn't big on Hooper's since it was historical fiction.  If you're a fan of one of these authors, it's probably worth picking up this anthology.  Only two stories were real duds for me, which is a good rate for a short story collection.  I think readers will appreciate the range of perspectives and experiences explored in LOSING IT.

Review: Ask the Passengers

By A.S. King
Available now from Little, Brown
Review copy courtesy of Mrs. Yingling Reads
Read my reviews of PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ and THE DUST OF 100 DOGS
Read Amy's guest blog

A.S. King is one of the best young adult authors writing today.  Every single one of her books is a gem.  I'd say the only truly comparable author is John Green, although their books don't much resemble each other aside from being contemporary YA.

King's newest book, ASK THE PASSENGERS, is about Astrid Jones.  Astrid's a pretty normal teen - she has a mom, a dad, and a younger sister, she hangs out with her best friends who are dating, and has a job with a local caterer.  But her mom has a special bond with her sister, leaving Astrid left out, plus she dominates the whole family.  Her best friends aren't actually dating - Justin and Kristina are both gay and use each other as a beard.  And Astrid is dating Dee, who works with her.  But Astrid isn't sure that she wants to go any farther than making out, especially since she isn't sure that she's a lesbian.

Astrid is a wonderful character with a powerful voice.  She isn't just questioning her sexuality - she's a teenager; she's questioning a lot of things.  She even finds comfort in her philosophy class.  The title comes from her habit of lying behind her house, watching the planes go by.  She sends out her love to the planes' passengers.  Often the chapters end with a scene of someone on the plane feeling Astrid's love and gaining the courage to do something important for their life.  These scenes can be heavy, but they're beautiful, and an excellent demonstration of King's inventive storytelling.

ASK THE PASSENGERS is a story full of love and King tells it with love.  Astrid's story will appeal to a wide audience - you don't have to belong to the LGBT alphabet soup to find it compelling.  (But young lesbians and bisexual girls will definitely enjoy the make-out scenes.)  And I could just be saying that because I want everyone to read ASK THE PASSENGERS.  But then again, I want everyone to read it because it's a great book.

Review: Please Ignore Vera Dietz

If you're wondering who won the preorder contest, I kept that secret since I kept track of it by e-mails. The SOLITARY winners were Mad Scientist of Steam Punkery and Book Reviews and Jessi E. of The Elliot Review.


By A. S. King
Available now from Alfred A. Knopf (Random House)
Printz Honor Book
Review copy
Read my review of DUST OF 100 DOGS and Amy's guest blog

I read quite a bit of this novel in the back of my car. Fitting, since Vera Dietz spends quite a bit of time in her car like a good pizza delivery person. (She also takes shots of vodka like a bad pizza delivery person.)

What to say? Here's what I didn't like about the book:

Jenny Flick is mean and cruel and evil and completely flat. It makes sense, since neither Vera nor co-narrating (from beyond the grave) Charlie Kahn have any reason to make an effort to see her good side. At the same time, she's one of the main external antagonists. Vera deserves a better enemy. A. S. King crafted a sharp, funny, and tragic heroine. It seems almost laughable that such a fully realized character is pitted against a deranged bully.

But it does fit, at the same time. Jenny Flick is not the main antagonist, though she would like to be. Vera's her own worst enemy. Her love is the best weapon she can turn against herself. And there are worse things in her life - and there were worse things in Charlie's - than Jenny Flick.

Here's what I liked about the book:

The structure. (It reminds me of THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS by Arundhati Roy.)



The flowcharts. Chart jokes are always funny.

The black humor. There's a running joke about a pickle that will break your heart.

The heart breaking. This isn't a maudlin, Lurlene McDaniel, saddest little cancer patient story. You know Charlie is dead, you know he was on a downhill slide when he died. You know that. King breaks you slowly by showing just how close he came to making it despite his few chances in life. She breaks you with the knowledge that Vera might not make it, that she might end up like Charlie despite having so much potential.

Smart people are excellent at doing dumb things because they think they know better.

(Perhaps, sometimes, they want to do dumb things.)

PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ is one of the reasons YA is such an exciting genre.  It's an example of why writing for young adults shouldn't be underestimated.  It should already be on your shelf, nestled by gems like DANGEROUS NEIGHBORS and GOING BOVINE.

"Waiting On" Wednesday + Contest

This meme was started by Jill of Breaking the Spine.

I have been eagerly awaiting PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ, by A. S. King, who wrote the little-indie-that-could, DUST OF 100 DOGS.  DUST OF 100 DOGS was one of my top books of summer last year, and A. S. King was kind enough to guest blog during my first blogiversary.  So I was sad to learn that certain chains won't be carrying her debut.



Here's the flap copy and details:

"PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZis a 'please go away and don't bother me, I have to finish this book before I do anything else' kind of book. Brilliant. Funny. Really special." --Ellen Hopkins, author of NYT bestselling Crank, Glass and Tricks

PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ Coming from Knopf --October 12, 2010--ages 14+

Is it okay to hate a dead kid?

Even if I loved him once?

Even if he was my best friend?

Is it okay to hate him for being dead?

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. Find more info and an excerpt here: http://www.as-king.com/html/vera.php.

Then, I found out from Cecelia Bedelia that also isn't carrying SHADES OF MILK AND HONEY, Mary Robinette Kowal's debut novel, in its stores. Ya'll may remember Kowal as one of the first authors I reviewed. I first posted about SHADES OF MILK AND HONEY in a "Waiting On" Wednesday February 25, 2009. And now I can't go out and buy it at my favorite bookstore.



CONTEST:

E-mail proof of a preorder of PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ or a purchase of SHADES AND MILK HONEY to inbedwithbooks AT yahoo DOT com to be entered. In two weeks, I will select a winner to receive a $10 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble.

Here are some links to help you out:
PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ on Amazon and IndieBound
SHADES OF MILK AND HONEY on Amazon and IndieBound

Books of Summer 3/7

DUST OF 100 DOGS by A.S. King

Wow, these things are just getting more expensive. This one is a ten-dollar committment, but it's still paperback for easy carriage. You've probably already heard of this one, and while it does move back and forth in time, Saffron Adams is a girl heading to a Caribbean island after graduation. Definitely summery.

Long ago, pirate queen Emer Morrisey was cursed to live the life of 100 dogs. The book unfolds with both the story of how an Irish girl became a pirate queen, and how her new human incarnation plans to recover her treasure. There's also a dirty old man living on an island, near where the teenage Saffron must go. Some of the twists are pretty obvious, but A.S. King's strong writing disguises that fault.

DUST OF 100 DOGS blends things together, making it a good story for people who like historical, contemporary, romantic, and paranormal fiction. This one is great for a day where you don't have much to do, so that you can read the book in one sitting. You'll want to put the pieces of Emer and Saffron's lives together.

Hell Yes, A.S. King Still Celebrates her Birthday

I'm gonna keep this simple: A. S. King is the author of THE DUST OF 100 DOGS, a Spring 2009 Indie Next Pick for Teens, and a number of short stories. She can be found at her blog, where she's currently running an eyeball contest. And guess what? Amy's a March baby too. So listen to someone who's a year older and a year wiser.

Hell Yes, I Still Celebrate my Birthday
by A.S. King

You know, the older I get, the more I hear people say, “I don’t celebrate my birthday anymore.” They wave it off like it’s any old day of the year, and roll their eyes. “Sheesh!” they say, “I’m closer to dead than I am to born, so why celebrate?” Uh—isn’t that even more of a reason to party down? In our house, we try to take the day off, not answer the business phone, and stay in our pajamas as long as we can. Join us! Mix up your beverage of choice (coffee for me, thanks) put on a hat, and get comfortable. Because today I turn 39.

*sing birthday song here.*

Like most people, I have certain birthday memories, helped along by photographs, which is what I’d like to share with you today. I owe thanks to my parents, their Minolta & Kodachrome for these mini visual time machines.

First off, I have a news flash. I was once cute. This picture is from my second birthday. Seriously. Look at how cute I was. That’s probably a German Chocolate Cake w/ the proper coconut icing. Homemade, of course. My favorite. This cake made an appearance pretty much every single March 10^th since I was born.


My 5^th birthday in 1975, I got a xylophone. It is the birthday that sticks out the strongest in my memory. This is the only picture I have of the xylophone. The hands holding the mallets are my mother’s—though when she goes musical, which is she is known to do, we call her Janine. Go Janine!


Then, like all children, I started to grow out of my cuteness. I feel that hitting this not-so-cute-anymore stage smack at the end of the 1970s was a real obstacle. Seriously. Look what it did to me, here, on my 8^th birthday in 1978. NG, man. Not. Good.


This next picture is a picture of my 19^th birthday. It was my first college birthday & yes, that is a cigarette in my hand. What’s in the cup is anyone’s guess, but I’m betting it’s not Ovaltine. Let me please take this opportunity to remind you—smoking is an awful, horrible and stupid curse, and drinking isn’t much better. Also, choosing eyewear requires a modicum of sanity, which, in 1989, it seems I did not possess.



Here ends my journey to the planet of past birthdays.

I have a year from today to enjoy my last age that begins with a 3, and then, I will turn 40 gracefully. Not so bad at all. My eyewear has improved, I’ve quit smoking, I rarely drink, and I manage to exercise when I can. I feel young. I’m not sure if I feel younger than 39 or what 39 is supposed to feel like, but I’m still on a quest to learn things, and to not get out of bed in the morning. So, I guess really, I’m still this kid:

Even though I look like this now.


Thanks so much for having me to your party, Liviania! Happy birthday to you and to me and to the other Marchlings out there and happy blog birthday, too!

Now, who’s up for refilling the birthday girl's coffee?

--

As I just bought coffee, I'm happy to give Amy some. I haven't been able to read my copy of DUST OF 100 DOGS yet, so I lent it to someone in penance. She told me it's "really awesome." No lie, her verbal review used awesome about twenty times.

So let's wish A.S. King a happy birthday! (And don't forget to enter Steph/Reviewer X's gargantuan contest.)