Still Life with Tornado by A.S. King

Still Life with Tornado

by A.S. King

About the Author:

A.S. King is the award-winning author of many acclaimed books for young readers. Her novel Dig won the 2020 Michael L. Printz Award, and Ask The Passengers won the 2013 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. The New York Times called her “one of the best YA writers working today.” King lives with her family in Pennsylvania, where she returned after living on a farm and teaching adult literacy in Ireland for more than a decade. www.as-king.com

Book Summary:

"A heartbreaking and mind bending story of a talented teenage artist's awakening to the brokenness of her family from acclaimed Printz award-winner A.S. King.

Sixteen-year-old Sarah can't draw. This is a problem, because as long as she can remember, she has "done the art." She thinks she's having an existential crisis. And she might be right; she does keep running into past and future versions of herself as she wanders the urban ruins of Philadelphia. Or maybe she's finally waking up to the tornado that is her family, the tornado that six years ago sent her once-beloved older brother flying across the country for a reason she can't quite recall. After decades of staying together "for the kids" and building a family on a foundation of lies and domestic violence, Sarah's parents have reached the end. Now Sarah must come to grips with years spent sleepwalking in the ruins of their toxic marriage. As Sarah herself often observes, nothing about her pain is remotely original—and yet it still hurts."

Reviews:

“Read this book, whatever your age. You may find it’s the exact shape and size of the hole in your heart.”—The New York Times

“Surreal and thought-provoking.”—People Magazine

★ ”A deeply moving, frank, and compassionate exploration of trauma and resilience, filled to the brim with incisive, grounded wisdom.” —Booklist, starred review

Personal Reflection:

I know they say don't judge a book by its cover but I did 😐. I thought is was a bit dull but after reading the novel, I was wrong. I really enjoyed the whole concept of "originality" and the tornado drawing being "more than meets the eye", that a tornado drawing isn't just scrambled up lines in a funnel shape but can hold many things. It's all about perception! This one taught me the need to always keep my mind open.

Sources:

https://www.amazon.com/Still-Life-Tornado-S-King/dp/1101994908/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=A.S.+King&qid=1616894723&sr=8-2

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