Switch
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
I’m looking for the Real Solution.
I think it has something to do with giving a shit about people…
To understand anything is to understand energy / anger / love.
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 23 June 2020 for nearly a year. Sixteen-year-old Tru Becker lives in a house with a power switch that no one ever touches. Her father nails larger and larger boxes over the switch. Tru is inside box seven, from where she has to deal with not only her family’s problems, but also the impossible science project she’s been set at school. Tru has a crowbar, and, one way or another, she’s going to see what happens when she flips the switch.
Written with the same heart, nuance and depth as A.S. King’s other prize-winning books, Switch is about finding ways to deal with past trauma, trusting and re-setting.
A.S. King is the author of many acclaimed novels and has won the Michael L. Printz Award in 2020 for Dig, a Michael L. Printz Honor in 2011 for Please Ignore Vera Dietz, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2012 for Ask the Passengers, The Amelia Walden Award, The Carolyn Field Award, and one time she won £50 on a scratch card.
The New York Times called her ‘one of the best YA writers working today’. King lives in Pennsylvania.
‘One of the best YA writers working today.’ John Green
‘Maybe there are writers more adept than King at capturing the outrageous and outraged voice of teenagers, but it’s difficult to think of one.’ New York Times
‘Switch is mind-bending, life-affirming and brilliant. Nobody maps the wilderness of growing up like A. S. King.’ Vikki Wakefield
‘King understands and writes teen anxieties like no other, resulting in difficult, resonant, compelling characters and stories.’ Kirkus
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
On June 23, 2020, Earth fell into a space-time fold that stopped every clock. Now, per government mandate, all students must spend two hours per day—as measured by a website that "tells you what time and date it would be"—contemplating a fix. Truda Becker, 16, suspects the universe pressed pause because people ceased caring about each other, but has no clue how to rectify the situation, particularly since her own family is struggling due to her sociopathic older sister's sadistic manipulations. To cope, Truda throws javelins, which "teach me how to fly through time when no time exists," and endeavors to uncover the mysterious switch over which her father has nailed a series of increasingly large boxes—some the size of rooms. Every night, while her household sleeps, Truda takes a crowbar to her father's handiwork, hoping to learn the mechanism's purpose. This powerful tale from Printz Medalist King (Dig) satirizes society's time fixation while illustrating the importance of candor, compassion, and self-care. Surreal imagery and poetic narration capture Truda's inner turmoil without obscuring plot or hindering pace, resulting in a read that's poignant, propulsive, and profound. Ages 14–up.
