Ask the Passengers

King, A. S.. (2012). Ask the passengers. Hatchet Book Group: NY.  Astrid is not loved, not fully. Not by her parents, her friends or even herself, not fully is she loved. Yet, she has so much love to give that she finds herself on her back looking at airplanes and sending her love and questions to them.  She will never know that her love is received and her questions help passengers on the plans answer questions they are struggling with.  Astrid goes along with her gay friends cover that they are dating each other while she herself is finding herself attracted to a girl. Underage clubbing at a gay bar gets them all busted and then the truth is dragged out all the while Astrid is pushing and pulling for more love and acceptance until she no longer needs to send her love away. While this is a quirky character to say the least, I felt love for Astrid. She was real in a way that many authors miss.  Depending on how conservative a school is, this would be a good book for middle and high school.  It is worth reading in a psychology class and evaluating the interactions of the people in the book. This is a book that I would love to use Peck's questions with, especially Why is the story set where it is? They are in a small town with high expectations, it adds a lot significance to the actions of the characters.