Ask the Passengers

Ask the Passengers

By: A.S. King

The Jones family moved to Unit Valley from New York when Astrid was nine. Ever since they moved, their family has been falling apart because of small town rumors. Astrid’s mom cared about their reputation, and sometimes, only their reputation.  Astrid’s dad and she used to make birdhouses all the time… but then he tried pot and now he is an addict and no one knows but her (which is unbelievable in Astrid’s mind). Astrid’s sister, Ellis, is a popular girl. She plays hokey and isn’t very close with Astrid… no one really is. Astrid loves EVERYBODY in some way or another. Astrid is kind of an outsider, although she does have two friends, their names are Kristina and Justin. Those two are the two most popular people in school and are “dating”.

Astrid’s mom texts Kristina all the time—just like they are best buds— but that’s weird for Astrid, considering they really are best buds. Her mom tells Kristina that she thinks Astrid should get out more… that’s when Kristina got the idea. It was the idea that got them all into trouble.

Kristina explained it to Astrid, but now there was an addition. Jeff the leg jiggler is what they call him. He asked Astrid out and she asked Kristina what she should say and Kristina said it was perfect and she should say yes because Astrid’s mom wants her to get a boyfriend. But that’s not what Astrid wants. The plan was that Astrid would tell her mom that she was going on a date with Jeff with Kristina and Justin and they would… but only for an hour. They would then ditch Jeff and go to a bar… a gay bar. Now, Kristina didn’t tell Astrid they were going to a gay bar… she just said they were going “somewhere”.

Throughout the whole book, Astrid is trying to prove that motion is possible to prove Zeno and Elea wrong. Also, throughout the book she starts slowly falling in love with her co-worker… but if she keeps giving her love away to strangers, will she have enough to give to her real love?