Ask The Passengers by AS King

Astrid Jones is carrying a lot of secrets and doesn't feel able to confide in anyone.  Instead, she lies on the picnic bench in her garden and talks to the passengers of the aircraft flying overhead.  She asks them about her abrasive family and the secrets her two best friends are asking her to keep and she asks them what it means that she's falling in love with a girl.

But obviously - OBVIOUSLY - secrets that remain safely stashed away don't make for interesting plotlines, so Astrid's secrets all come tumbling out.

I really liked Astrid.  I liked how angry she was about being shoved into one of society's little boxes, like why should she have to put a label on who she was?  Some people want to wear labels about who they are, and that's great and all, but not everyone is comfortable with labels and no one seemed to get that.

I liked (and by liked, I mean despised) the portrayal of small town life and the toxicity of Astrid's family life.  Because she has no one to talk to about the things she is bottling up and because she doesn't feel comfortable telling the world that she's in love with a girl, she sends 'love' up to the passengers in the airplanes flying over her house.  The 'love' hits the passengers and makes them reflect on the paths their own lives are taking.  It was a tiny bit magic realism, but actually quite sweet.

If I had one criticism of this book it was it wasn't hugely original.  Sending her love into the sky aside, this is a story about a girl coming to terms with her sexual identity and the backlash she gets from her small-minded community.  It's a story that's been done a bunch of times before, but it's an important message so I guess I can let it slide.

I really enjoyed this book and I'm definitely going to look out for others by this author.

4 stars