A. S. King (1) (1970–)

4 / 5 ⭐️'ˢ

“Dig” by A.S. King

Okay this was a hauntingly beautiful and thought-provoking story that delved into the complexities of family dynamics, privilege, race, and mental health. It had a unique writing style and multi-perspective narrative.

The story follows the lives of teenagers from the eccentric and dysfunctional Hemmings family, each grappling with their own personal struggles. As their stories intertwine, secrets are revealed, and the truths about their family and themselves slowly come to light.

The themes explored in this are profound and timely. King delves into issues of privilege and inequality, shedding light on the systemic racism and classism that exist in society. She also tackles mental health and the effects of trauma on individuals and families, as well as the search for identity and self-acceptance.

The Hemmings family is complex and dysfunctional, but their love for each other shines through even in the midst of their struggles, adding depth and authenticity to their relationships.

The only minor drawback is that the plot felt fragmented at times, with the narrative jumping between perspectives and timelines. Overall though, it does add to the sense of mystery and intrigue in the story, keeping you engaged and invested in uncovering the truth behind the Hemmings family's secrets.

I read this one because is was a recommended read in my ALA reading journal.… (mer)

Representation: Side Asian character
Trigger warnings: Mentions of the Vietnam War, mentions of the Holocaust

6/10, after reading some great books I was hoping that I would enjoy this one, sadly I didn't like this one as much as the other ones I've read due to the glaring flaws in this and I highly doubt that I'd pick this one up again however I'd like to see what other books this author has written and hopefully they could be better than this one. It begins with the main character Mac Delaney living in a town controlled by essentially a dictator called Ms. Sett who controls everything from curfews to junk food and even the colour people are allowed to paint their houses with but most importantly the books. Mac goes to 6th grade and has to read The Devil's Arithmetic which was about the Holocaust but he soon discovered that some words were blacked out. Somehow I didn't connect to this; maybe this is only a thing in this book but I don't see books with blacked-out words, no it just doesn't work like that, rather libraries just ban or reject the book entirely rather than getting it and then removing a few words like one time I saw my library reject a book because it mentioned suicide. Of course, Mac is frustrated by this and when he got the uncensored version the words that were blocked in the censored one were just words referring to female bodies but I didn't like the preachiness in this when he was sorry for the actions of people of his race in the past but he never did that; he also defined some LGBTQIA terms I already know and acknowledged the Native American tribes which detracted from the story. There was a part where Mac's father suffered from a mental illness yet somehow despite his mother and grandfather teaching him to call things out when they are wrong he never applied that to his father, I don't really know. The ending just petered out when some kids protested against the school council board and then held a silent protest but after that, Ms. Sett got rid of some restrictions; I'm not sure if she uncensored the books yet.… (mer)

Mac Delaney lives in a small-town suburb of Philadelphia with his mother who works in hospice care and his grandfather who is a Vietnam War vet. The town isn’t particularly notable except that a handful of minority-viewpoint yet vocal folks have managed to convince local government to enact a variety of strange ordinances to purportedly keep the town safe, including enforcing a 9pm curfew, banning Halloween trick or treating, dictating that all houses must be painted white, and so on. One of the biggest proponents of all these strictures is Mac’s new teacher in sixth grade, although in school she seems more open. That is, until Mac and his fellow students notice that their reading assignment has certain words blackened out with a Sharpie marker. They are determined to take a stand against this censorship and so start researching the best ways to protest and speak up.

This was a very interesting title to read. I was a bit skeptical at the outset as the first few chapters seemed a little all over the place and introduced a lot of details, but it actually does all come together. Mac is concerned about truth, while having a father who he later deems a “liar,” although it seems likely that the man has some untreated mental illness. Despite himself wanting to point out uncomfortable truths (particularly around our country’s history of mistreating people of color), Mac is initially ill at ease with his friend Marci’s concern about women’s rights; however, that does come into play with the censored words and Mac ultimately sees the benefit of Marci’s feminist thinking and how it’s not just about elevating women to the same status as men but also freeing men from toxic ways of thinking and being.

As may be obvious by now, Mac and his close family are fairly liberal and politically active, but ultimately this book does show that everyone – regardless of their specific beliefs and political leanings – should care about preserving their right to read and their intellectual freedom. The book is actually somewhat lacking in diversity itself in terms of most characters being white, although that is addressed by Mac early on and there are also other ways that the book shows a lack of uniformity in people, as is true in life. The book that the students are reading in school is about the Holocaust and the students learn more about a few Jewish customs as a result. There is one classmate who is Asian, and another who is dealing with anxiety and later states being asexual. Mac’s living situation with a single parent and a grandparent is perhaps not that uncommon in real life, but still not the norm in children’s literature.

The book ends in a way that is cautiously optimistic about most of the problems raised, but not a tidy tying up of every negative thing in Mac’s life. I do like how the book did talk about his struggles with his feelings over all these events, and that both Mac and his grandfather were able to show emotion and even cry, normalizing this for boys and men.… (mer)

The Collectors is an anthology of stories by well known young adult authors about characters and their strange collections.

I haven’t really reviewed an anthology of stories from different authors before, so here’s my doing my best.

Play House: Took me a minute to get into it, but then enjoyed it.

The White Savior Does Not Save the Day: This was okay for me - it delivered a well written story, but I don’t know how I feel about it still, even two days after reading it.

Take It From Me: I can still actively “see” scenes from this story even now. The banana stickers on the wall, the locked box of doubts - it was a vivid story.

Ring of Fire: Metaphor about grief, but was kind of left confused a little at the end.

Museum of Misery: Impactful. A big punch with little words but pictures said everything.

La Concha: I couldn’t always follow this one. I felt like there were some big pieces missing from it.

Pool Bandits: One of my favorites just because of the length these boys went to to skate. My partner is a skater and I understand that culture a lot.

We Are Looking For Home: Another story I didn’t quite understand and even in the end, I don’t know what it was about??

A Recording for Carole Before It All Goes: This was beautiful and heartwarming. I feel like everyone nowadays possibly knows someone who has Dementia or Alzheimer's. My grandmother had dementia and just passed away at the beginning of this month and these stories will always make me think of her.

Sweet Everlasting: A crazy and kind of scary concept of being stuck in the “moment they wish could last forever”

The ones I loved: Take It from Me / David Levithan, Pool Bandits / G. Neri, A Recording for Carole Before It All Goes / Jason Reynolds, and Sweet Everlasting / M.T. Anderson

Overall, there were some wonderful and great stories, and others that I just couldn’t get into - doesn’t mean they weren’t good and others wouldn’t enjoy them though!

*Thank you Dutton Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for a digital advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review… (mer)