About the book: Astrid is a deep thinker. She lives in small town Unity Valley where everyone knows your business or gossips about you. She is taking a philosophy class that is making her think about her feelings in a deep meaningful way. She feels unloved by her mother and ignored by her father and sister. She routinely lays on the picnic table she made with her father sending all her love away to the passengers flying overhead in the sky. She has a secret girlfriend at work that no one knows about not even her best friend. Her best friend Kristina is gay and asks her to keep her secret by pretending that Justin is her boyfriend. She is talked into going to a bar called Atlantis; which is a homosexual hangout. She begins to be able to process her feelings and believing she is gay. Once she gets busted at the bar the whole town knows and her best friend Kristina turns on her. Her mother Claire believes everyone else over Astrid. Astrid deals with feeling alone and unloved. She continues to get up each day and face the gossip and rumors head on. She has Socrates as an imaginary conscience that assists her in processing everything. She begins to feel love for her girlfriend and does not want to send it away anymore to the passengers flying by; realizing she needs it to be happy.
Readers Response: Ask the Passengers is very heavy with philosophical undertones. I find it very interesting how Astrid sends her love away to the passengers and they receive it. Can positive thoughts and actions can change the way people think? I think the ideal reader of this book needs to be making the transition in the abstract think in order to fully grasp the depth of the book. Giving a teen great insight into a life of a teen who is struggling with gaining independence in a world where she feels like everyone is telling her what to do and feel. The story does discuss Astrid contemplating if she is gay or not, but in a way that focuses on acceptance and inner happiness.
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