A.S. King – författare

Astrid Jones copes with her small town's gossip and narrow-mindedness by sending love to the passengers in the airplanes flying overhead. Maybe they'll know what to do with it. Maybe it'll make them happy. Maybe they'll need it. Her mother doesn't want it, her father's always stoned, her perfect sister's too busy trying to fit in and the people in her small town would never allow her to love the person she really wants to - another girl named Dee. There's no one Astrid feels she can talk to about this deep secret or the profound questions that she's trying to answer but little does she know just how much sending her love - and asking the right questions - will affect the passengers' lives, and her own, for the better.In this unmistakably original portrayal of a girl struggling to break free of society's boxes and definitions, Printz Honor author A.S. King asks readers to question everything - and offers hope to those who will never stop seeking and sharing real love.

From the award-winning author of Dig comes a weird and insightful novel about a girl intent on picking the lock of her toxic family's secrets.“A roller coaster of a book, Pick the Lock is one thrill after another.”—NPR“Updated and recast for a new generation, this is a much-needed, thought-provoking tale of survival and triumph.”—BCCB, starred reviewJane Vandermaker-Cook would like her mother back. As Jane’s mother tours the world to support the family, Jane lives and goes to school in a Victorian mansion with her younger brother and their mendacious father, who confines Jane’s mother to a system of pneumatic tubes whenever she’s at home. And then there’s weirdly ever-present Aunt Finch, Milorad the gardener, and his rat, Brutus. For Jane, this all seems normal until she gains access to the files for a lifetime of security camera videos—her lifetime. Pick the Lock is a punk opera, a primal scream, and a portrait of a family buried in lies.

Jane Vandermaker-Cook would like her mother back. As Jane's mother tours the world to support the family, Jane lives and goes to school in a Victorian mansion with her younger brother and their mendacious father who confines Jane’s mother to a system of pneumatic tubes whenever she’s at home. And then there's weirdly ever-present Aunt Finch, Milorad the gardener, and his rat, Brutus. For Jane, this all seems normal until she suddenly gains access to the files for a lifetime of security-camera videos - her lifetime.A.S. King's latest surrealist masterpiece follows Jane’s bizarre and brilliant journey to reconnect with her mother by breaking out of her shell and composing a punk opera.

From David Levithan’s story about a non-binary kid collecting pieces of other people’s collections to Jenny Torres Sanchez's tale of a girl gathering types of fire while trying not to get burned to G. Neri's piece about 1970's skaters seeking opportunities to go vertical - anything can be collected and in the hands of these award-winning and bestselling authors, any collection can tell a story. Nine of the best YA novelists working today have written fiction based on a prompt from Printz-winner A.S. King (who also contributes a story) and the result is itself an extraordinary collection.