Pick the Lock
Penguin Young Readers Group · Hardcover · September 24, 2024
From 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.
We earn from qualifying purchases.
- Who it’s for
- A sharp, strange family story pairs emotional urgency with the offbeat energy of a punk opera.
- Themes
- Toxic family dynamics, Reconnecting with her mother, Creative self-expression
- Genres
- YA Stories About Parents, Coming of Age, Literary YA
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved.
The Wilderness of GirlsMadeline Claire Franklin54% match
Into the Bright Open: a Secret Garden RemixCherie Dimaline57% match
The Spiral KeyKelsey Day55% match
TanglerootKalela Williams54% match
Still Life With TornadoA.S. King64% match
Find LaylaMeg Elison61% match
Reality BoyA.S. King64% match
We Shall Be MonstersTara Sim54% match
For younger readers: Born Behind Bars, Quagmire Tiarello Couldn't Be Better
For older readers: Those Beyond the Wall
Start with three books, and this one can be the first.
Members get a new edition every morning: a route out from their books to essays, research and talks, with the reason for each.
Start with this bookAbout this book
From 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.
Continue reading
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. A.S. King's latest surrealist masterpiece follows Jane’s bizarre and brilliant journey to reconnect with her mother by breaking out of her shell and composing a punk opera.
Surreal Family Tangles
A sharp, strange family story pairs emotional urgency with the offbeat energy of a punk opera.
Come here for
- A girl trying to reconnect with her mother
- Surreal details and a prickly family dynamic
Expect
- A sustained, emotionally charged narrative
- A journey toward breaking out of her shell
Where it sits
| Coming of Age | 44% |
|---|---|
| Literary YA | 31% |
| YA Stories About Parents | 25% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- YA Stories About Parents
- Emotions & Feelings for Teens
- Abuse & Trauma for Teens
- Authors
- A.S. King
- Publisher
- Penguin Young Readers Group
- Published
- September 24, 2024
- Format
- Hardcover
- Theme
- Toxic family dynamics · Reconnecting with her mother · Creative self-expression
- Reading lane
- YA Stories About Parents