Stargirl
Author: A.S King
Published: October 3rd 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Date Read: Apr 13 2020 - Apr 18 2020
Pages: 279
Rating: 5/5
Published: October 3rd 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Date Read: Apr 13 2020 - Apr 18 2020
Pages: 279
Rating: 5/5
Quotes I Like
“The world is full of assholes. What are you doing to make sure you're not one of them?”
“Listen to me. They may control what you do, but no one can pee on your soul without your permission.”
“They don't know what love is. Here they learn what hate is, and I am so sad that they might never know love because hate came first.
“She's like a kindness ninja. Sneaking around in order to help people.”
“I think back to the last thing Dave said to me and try to imagine what escaping oxygen would look like. It looks a lot like drowning.”
“Listen to me. They may control what you do, but no one can pee on your soul without your permission.”
“They don't know what love is. Here they learn what hate is, and I am so sad that they might never know love because hate came first.
“She's like a kindness ninja. Sneaking around in order to help people.”
“I think back to the last thing Dave said to me and try to imagine what escaping oxygen would look like. It looks a lot like drowning.”
Review
A.S King does it again, I don't know how she writes so many beautiful, touching and extraordinarily well done novels. I have yet to read a book by A.S King I didn't love. Everybody Sees the Ants is a book about, family ties, bullying, and inter-generational trauma, she is able to write about things many people, if not all people have experienced.
Lucky is a beautifully crafted character, he is sad, and lonely and his life is a mess. He has to deal with Nadar, his life long bully, no one can or will stop, as well as his crumbling home life. This book gives a detailed look into the life of a teenager who has nothing going for him, quite honestly Lucky can't catch a break. And this all crescendos when Nadar physically attacks him, provoking his mother to upend them for three weeks to Arizona, to live with her brother and sister-in-law. The moments in Arizona are my favourite parts of the book. It's no nice to get to see Lucky interact with his crazy aunt and his uncle who acts more like a father than his real dad.
I love books like this because we get to see teenagers interacting with their parents in ways that real people would. I loved all these interactions! I also really loved the dream sequences with Lucky's grandpa, these reveal so much about why things are the way the are for Lucky's dad. These give us a glimpse into hoe intergenerational trauma effects families. Lucky's grandpa being an MIA/POW during the Vietnam war changes the trajectory of his fathers life, in turn changes Lucky's life as well. These dream sequences really allow us to see why Lucky's dad is such a terrible parent, why he is unable to be there for Lucky and his wife. I think the ending of this book gave a very satisfying ending to this family story line, A.S King is a queen at realistic character growth. She allows her characters to grow in change in real and understandable ways, nothing too outlandish or unbelievable.
I also loved her take on bullying, I find YA books often mention bullying or focus on bullying, but they don't really focus on it or discuss it in ways that matter. But that's not the case in this book. I cant remember the last time I read any book where two teenage character said to each other "I am being bullied and I know you are to" Bullying is not normally a word we heard YA characters say to each other, and I think it's very important that they do, and that young readers see that. I also really liked how many of the adult characters just pushed the bullying under the rug, or told the kids to toughen up, wait it out, and that there will always be bully's in your life, learn to deal with it. I think as crappy as that message is it's the message many young people receive and have to deal with all the time. Going on with this idea Everybody Sees the Ants does a great job of showcasing that even though the adults in your life maybe won't help you things can be ok, you can be ok. A.S King has the inexplicable talent of writing terribly dark, sad novels but resolving them with happy endings that are not cliched messes. She shows us that live can still be hard and messy, but still good and happy and joy filled, that things can and will get better.
Over all this is another epic read by A.S King, and I can't wait to read more by this incredible author!
Lucky is a beautifully crafted character, he is sad, and lonely and his life is a mess. He has to deal with Nadar, his life long bully, no one can or will stop, as well as his crumbling home life. This book gives a detailed look into the life of a teenager who has nothing going for him, quite honestly Lucky can't catch a break. And this all crescendos when Nadar physically attacks him, provoking his mother to upend them for three weeks to Arizona, to live with her brother and sister-in-law. The moments in Arizona are my favourite parts of the book. It's no nice to get to see Lucky interact with his crazy aunt and his uncle who acts more like a father than his real dad.
I love books like this because we get to see teenagers interacting with their parents in ways that real people would. I loved all these interactions! I also really loved the dream sequences with Lucky's grandpa, these reveal so much about why things are the way the are for Lucky's dad. These give us a glimpse into hoe intergenerational trauma effects families. Lucky's grandpa being an MIA/POW during the Vietnam war changes the trajectory of his fathers life, in turn changes Lucky's life as well. These dream sequences really allow us to see why Lucky's dad is such a terrible parent, why he is unable to be there for Lucky and his wife. I think the ending of this book gave a very satisfying ending to this family story line, A.S King is a queen at realistic character growth. She allows her characters to grow in change in real and understandable ways, nothing too outlandish or unbelievable.
I also loved her take on bullying, I find YA books often mention bullying or focus on bullying, but they don't really focus on it or discuss it in ways that matter. But that's not the case in this book. I cant remember the last time I read any book where two teenage character said to each other "I am being bullied and I know you are to" Bullying is not normally a word we heard YA characters say to each other, and I think it's very important that they do, and that young readers see that. I also really liked how many of the adult characters just pushed the bullying under the rug, or told the kids to toughen up, wait it out, and that there will always be bully's in your life, learn to deal with it. I think as crappy as that message is it's the message many young people receive and have to deal with all the time. Going on with this idea Everybody Sees the Ants does a great job of showcasing that even though the adults in your life maybe won't help you things can be ok, you can be ok. A.S King has the inexplicable talent of writing terribly dark, sad novels but resolving them with happy endings that are not cliched messes. She shows us that live can still be hard and messy, but still good and happy and joy filled, that things can and will get better.
Over all this is another epic read by A.S King, and I can't wait to read more by this incredible author!