A.S. King
A.S. King: The Official Hideout
AUTHOR. THINKER. JUGGLER.
BE DEFIANTLY CREATIVE.
About A.S. King
A.S. King has been called “One of the best Y.A. writers working today” by the New York Times Book Review. King is the author of many acclaimed novels and has won the Michael L. Printz Award (twice!), a Michael L. Printz Honor, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Amelia Walden Award, the Carolyn Field Award, the Margaret A. Edwards Award and the ALAN Award for her lasting contribution for young adult literature, and one time won £50 on a scratch card.
★ “A.S. King’s novels. . .are in another solar system entirely.”—Bookpage
September 24, 2024
From Two-Time Michael L. Printz Award winner A.S. King, a weird and insightful new novel about a girl intent on picking the lock of her toxic family.
Jane Vandermaker-Cook would like her mother back. As Jane's mother tours the world to support the family, Jane lives and goes to school in a Victorian mansion with her younger brother and their mendacious father who confines Jane’s mother to a system of pneumatic tubes whenever she’s at home. And then there's weirdly ever-present Aunt Finch, Milorad the gardener, and his rat, Brutus. For Jane, this all seems normal until she suddenly gains access to the files for a lifetime of security-camera videos—her lifetime.
Pick the Lock is a punk opera, a primal scream, and a portrait of a family buried in lies.
What People Are Saying
★ "Printz Award–winning King has written another remarkable, character-driven book that dazzles with its originality. With that and its employment of magic realism, it is sui generis, and at 400-plus pages, it is one of King’s most ambitious, and most successful, books. And that, God knows, is no lie."—Booklist, starred review
★ "A worthy literary heir to feminist novels like The Stepford Wives, updated and recast for a new generation, this is a much-needed, thought-provoking tale of survival and triumph.”—BCCB, starred review
★ "Cathartic."—Horn Book, starred review
★ "Pick the Lock is King at her most accessible. Teen readers are lucky to have [her] in their corner." —Shelf Awareness, starred review
"Compulsively readable."—Kirkus Reviews
"Helmed by Jane’s penetrating commentary, this unconventional narrative melds punk anthems and bewildering interludes from a shape-shifting rat with King’s quirky blend of present-day issues and mind-bending twists to unlock complex, thought-provoking insight."—Publishers Weekly
"stunningly original.”—Kirkus
THE COLLECTORS: STORIES
Wins the 2024 Printz Award
THIS JUST IN . . .
A.S. King had an idea and a pretty talented group of friends to help pursue it.
Ever a proponent of short-form fiction, she wanted to put together an anthology and offered contributors a dual prompt: Write about a collection and its collector and make it as weird as you possibly can.
She told them to be “defiantly creative,” stressing the emotional currency of weirdness and how every teen feels weird no matter how popular they are. King didn’t seek out those who wrote “weird” already. Instead, she said, “I wanted to find my weird friends—because all writers are pretty weird—and ask [the] very, very different group of people to do the same thing and see what it would look like.”
The result, The Collectors: Stories, looks like the 2024 Printz Award winner. The surprise announcement at Monday’s Youth Media Awards ceremony created two firsts for the award: King is the first person to win the Printz twice (she received the 2020 award for her novel Dig), and The Collectors: Stories is the first anthology to earn the prize. -- School Library Journal 1/23/24
Michael L. Printz Press
KING ACCEPTS ALAN AWARD
The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN) presented Amy with the 2023 ALAN Award. The award is given to honor those who have made outstanding contributions to the field of adolescent literature. King said, during her remarks at the ALAN Breakfast ceremony, "Thank you so much for this incredible honor. I will pay you back in more books, more love, and other rebellious acts."
News
Features & Headlines
TASTING LIGHT PAPERBACK Out 11/14/23
A New Book for 2024
THE COLLECTORS
Mysterious
Galaxy
EVENT
THE COLLECTORS
SCHULER
BOOKS
EVENT
WHat people are saying
⭐️ "An eclectic, poignant, and introspective treasure trove."
—Kirkus Reviews (starred)
⭐️"Though the stories differ in so many ways, each author brings a sense of reverence for the theme to their entry, resulting in brutally heartfelt moments with incredible emotional depth that feel like a cohesive whole. . . masterfully collected and worth slowing down to absorb. An anthology for every collection." —School Library Journal (starred)
King proclaims, in an introduction, that “there is currency in weirdness”; by turns darkly cheeky and piercingly perceptive, this moody and existential grouping of stories lives up to the statement.—Publishers Weekly
The Collectors
Available at Fine Booksellers
From Michael L. Printz Award winner A.S. King and an all-star team of contributors including Anna-Marie McLemore and Jason Reynolds, an anthology of stories about remarkable people and their strange and surprising collections.
From David Levithan’s story about a non-binary kid collecting pieces of other people’s collections to Jenny Torres Sanchez's tale of a girl gathering types of fire while trying not to get burned to G. Neri's piece about 1970's skaters seeking opportunities to go vertical—anything can be collected and in the hands of these award-winning and bestselling authors, any collection can tell a story. Nine of the best YA novelists working today have written fiction based on a prompt from Printz-winner A.S. King (who also contributes a story) and the result is itself an extraordinary collection.
Books Unbound Interview@ 38:35
READ IT HERE
News
Features & Headlines
CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books
Children's Book Council
A New Book for 2024
Publishers Weekly
Margaret Edwards Award Interview
School Library Journal
--The Irish Times
"Anyone who thinks YA books can't also
be great literature needs to read A.S. King"
Attack of the Black Rectangles
Middle Grade -- Scholastic -- Out Now!
Award-winning author Amy Sarig King takes on censorship and intolerance in a novel she was born to write.
When Mac first opens his classroom copy of Jane Yolen's The Devil’s Arithmetic and finds some words blacked out, he thinks it must be a mistake. But then when he and his friends discover what the missing words are, he's outraged.
Someone in his school is trying to prevent kids from reading the full story.
But who?
Even though his unreliable dad tells him to not get so emotional about a book (or anything else), Mac has been raised by his mom and grandad to call out things that are wrong. He and his friends head to the principal's office to protest the censorship... but her response doesn't take them seriously.
So many adults want Mac to keep his words to himself.
Mac's about to see the power of letting them out.
In Attack of the Black Rectangles, acclaimed author Amy Sarig King shows all the ways truth can be hard... but still worth fighting for.
⭐️ “Poignant, humorous, and bright . . . Whip-smart, tuned in to the mind of sixth-graders, and beautifully concluded, the novel takes a bold stand in a time of book bans and rampant censorship . . . Against the backdrop of family issues, first crushes, and the end of elementary school, this is a beacon of hope for middle grades and an object lesson in treating kids like the intelligent readers they are.”—Booklist, starred review
⭐️ “[Amy Sarig King’s] respect for young people is exemplary, and her characters indelible.”—Horn Book, starred review
⭐️ “Skillfully encourages keeping open minds and extending grace to the oblivious and hostile alike . . . A searingly relevant opus to intellectual freedom.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
⭐️ “King’s latest novel is so timely and relevant, some readers may feel like the author has been privy to what’s going on in their own schools . . . A striking book on censorship; a must-have in all middle grade classrooms and school libraries.”—School Library Journal, starred review
“King empathetically tackles the intersections of multiple sensitive topics—mental health, patriarchy and sexism, war’s realities, whitewashed history—while educating readers on the power of protest and the benefits of living with grace.”—Publishers Weekly
Tasting Light
Ten Science Fiction Stories to Rewire Your Perception
What does the future hold? Ten speculative short stories by leading young-adult authors imagine what the world could be through the lens of technologies emerging today.
When the modification industry transforms how humans look, sound, and interact, a nonbinary teen braves the “reinvention room” to accept a gift from the dead. In an accidental city in space, a young apprentice holds neighborhoods together with braided carbon filaments until distraction and inspiration arrive in the wake of a visitor. Entitlement-fueled drug use alters the landscape of white privilege, robots remember the Earth, and corporate “walkers” stroll for unknown subscribers—until one hacks the system.
In tales buzzing with possibility, hope, innovation, anger, and tenderness, Tasting Light offers a dazzling challenge to connect with open minds, hearts, and senses in a fast-changing world.
Interview
n3wclock
Click.
“King miraculously blends the sharp, astute precision of a poet with all the humor of Kurt Vonnegut. I cracked up and cried in equal measure. All in all, Switch provides a moving commentary on humanity’s struggle for kindness in the race against time.”—Buzzfeed on Switch
SWITCH
AVAILABLE AT ANY FINE BOOKSELLER
A surreal and timely novel about isolation and human connection from Michael L. Printz Award winner A.S. King.
Time has stopped. It's been June 23, 2020 for nearly a year as far as anyone can tell. Frantic adults demand teenagers focus on finding practical solutions to the worldwide crisis. Not everyone is on board though.
Javelin-throwing prodigy Truda Becker is pretty sure her "Solution Time" class won't solve the world's problems, but she does have a few ideas what might. Truda lives in a house with a switch that no one ever touches, a switch her father protects every day by nailing it into hundreds of progressively larger boxes. But Truda's got a crow bar, and one way or another, she's going to see what happens when she flips the switch.
---
⭐️"Timely and extraordinary, teen readers will find themselves immersed in this timeless world.”—SLJ
⭐️"An unsettling but emotionally resonant novel for our own unsettling times."—Bookpage
“A work of literary genius.”—Booklist
“Printz Award winner King returns with another surrealist masterpiece.”—Kirkus
⭐️“King explores the meaning of time and the toxicity of family secrets. This inventive, surreal novel’s dedication, ‘For the class of 2020,’ makes a direct address to real-life teens’ ‘lost’ COVID-19 year.” —The Horn Book
“Poignant, propulsive, and profound.”—Publishers Weekly
Switch in Aus / NZ / UK / IRE
August 3, 2021
Switch has come to Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Ireland through my lovely Australian publisher, Text. Available where fine books are sold!
NEWS & Articles
A.S. King's DIG wins the 2020 Michael L. Printz Award
Paperback Release Interview
June 30, 2020
The Virtual Printz Ceremony
June 28, 2020
Horn Book: Five Questions for A.S. King about Dig.
February 12, 2020
DIG Unraveled: The Yarn Podcast with Colby Sharp
February 9, 2020
DIG wins the 2020 Michael L. Printz Award
January 27, 2020
DIG.
Winner of the 2020 Michael L. Printz Medal
★"King’s narrative concerns are racism, patriarchy, colonialism, white privilege, and the ingrained systems that perpetuate them. [Her] trademark surrealism and trenchant prose will speak profoundly to a generation of young people who are waking up to the societal sins of the past and working toward a more equitable future.” —The Horn Book, starred
★"This visceral examination of humanity’s flaws and complexity […] cultivates hope in a younger generation that’s wiser and stronger than its predecessors.”—Booklist, starred
“[This] strange and heart-wrenching tale is stunningly original.”—Kirkus
“[P]rofound ... offers hope that at least some of these characters will dig themselves out from under the legacy of hate they have unwillingly inherited.”—Publishers Weekly
Love Letter to My Independent Bookstore
Dear Aaron's,
For 15 years you have stood by me, supported me and my family, been close friends, and have hand-sold my books as if they were your own.
Thank you for taking a risk on a weird pirate lady and her crew. I love you.
Love, Amy
YOU CAN ALWAYS GET SIGNED A.S. KING BOOKS FROM AARON'S BOOKS IN LITITZ, PA.
SHOP LOCAL. BE RAD.
I Crawl Through It
(print and audio)
named one of the 50 Best YA Books of All Time
In 2017, Booklist celebrated 50 years of Young Adult literature as S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders turned 50 years old. Click here to see the full list of titles.
"King’s devotion to a passionately experimental style, in a genre often beholden to formula, is inspiring. Kurt Vonnegut might have written a book like this.” --New York Times Book Review on I Crawl Through It
The Dust of 100 Dogs
A.S. King's novel, The Dust of 100 Dogs will be re-released from Dutton on October 3, 2017.
Called "undeniably original" by Booklist, this was King's first YA novel.
In the late 17th century, famed pirate Emer Morrisey was on the cusp of escaping pirate life with her one true love and unfathomable riches when she was slain and cursed with the dust of 100 dogs, dooming her to one hundred lives as a dog before returning to a human body—with her memories intact.
Now she's a contemporary American teenager, and all she needs is a shovel and a ride to Jamaica.
STILL LIFE WITH TORNADO
OCTOBER, 2016, DUTTON
"Moving, unapologetically strange, skillfully constructed. Read this book, whatever your age.You may find it’s the exact shape and size of the hole in your heart.”
—New York Times Book Review
"Surreal and thought-provoking."—People Magazine
☆ "Lack of original ideas is not something found in work by A.S. King, who blurs reality, truth, violence, emotion, creativity, and art in a show of respect for YA readers."—Horn Book Magazine (starred review)
Five starred trade reviews
NAIBA Best Book 2017
Booklist Top of the List winner—Youth Fiction 2016
Shelf Awareness Best Teen Book 2016
Bookpage Best Teen Book 2016
New York Times Notable Children's Book 2016
Barnes & Noble Best Young Adult Books of 2016
Bustle's Best YA Books of 2016
a School Library Journal best book of 2016
a Publishers Weekly best book of 2016
Junior Library Guild selection
An Apple iBooks Best book for October
a Bustle best book of October
a Teen Vogue best book of October
Vera Down Under
January 29, 2018
Australia & New Zealand, are you ready for Please Ignore Vera Dietz? I am.
