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Still Life with Tornado

By A.S. King
Still Life with Tornado I am sixteen years old I am a human being Actually Sarah is several human beings At once And only one of them is sixteen Her parents insist she s a gifted artist with a bright future but now she can

  • Title: Still Life with Tornado
  • Author: A.S. King
  • ISBN: 9781101994887
  • Page: 273
  • Format: Hardcover

    • I am sixteen years old I am a human being Actually Sarah is several human beings At once And only one of them is sixteen Her parents insist she s a gifted artist with a bright future, but now she can t draw a thing, not even her own hand Meanwhile, there s a ten year old Sarah with a filthy mouth, a bad sunburn, and a clear memory of the family vacation in Mexico th I am sixteen years old I am a human being Actually Sarah is several human beings At once And only one of them is sixteen Her parents insist she s a gifted artist with a bright future, but now she can t draw a thing, not even her own hand Meanwhile, there s a ten year old Sarah with a filthy mouth, a bad sunburn, and a clear memory of the family vacation in Mexico that ruined everything She s a ray of sunshine compared to twenty three year old Sarah, who has snazzy highlights and a bad attitude And then there s forty year old Sarah makes good queso dip, doesn t wear a bra, really wants sixteen year old Sarah to tell the truth about her art teacher They re all wandering Philadelphia along with a homeless artist allegedly named Earl and they re all worried about Sarah s future.But Sarah s future isn t the problem The present is where she might be having an existential crisis Or maybe all those other Sarahs are trying to wake her up before she s lost forever in the tornado of violence and denial that is her parents marriage I am a human being I am sixteen years old That should be enough.

    • Ç Still Life with Tornado ☆ A.S. King
      273 A.S. King
    Still Life with Tornado

    About Author

    1. A.S. King says:
      A.S King is the author of the highly acclaimed I CRAWL THROUGH IT, Walden Award winner GLORY O BRIEN S HISTORY OF THE FUTURE, REALITY BOY, 2013 LA Times Book Prize winner ASK THE PASSENGERS, 2012 ALA Top Ten Book for Young Adults EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS, and 2011 Michael L Printz Honor Book PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ and THE DUST OF 100 DOGS as well as a collection of award winning short stories for adults, MONICA NEVER SHUTS UP.Look for Amy s work in anthologies DEAR BULLY, BREAK THESE RULES, ONE DEATH NINE STORIES, and LOSING IT Two YA novels to come in 2016 2018 Find at as kingchokengtitik

      titikchokengs If I don t accept your friend request, don t feel sad It s because I don t really use even though I m completely thrilled that you do

    Comment 421 on “Still Life with Tornado”

    1. Emily May says:
      But now it s been so long that if I bring it up, I ll look like a girl who can t let go of things Teenage girls always have to let go of things If we bring up anything, people say we re bitches who can t just drop it.If you re familiar with A.S King, then you ll probably understand immediately that this book is not what it first seems If you re new to her books, then expect to be taken into a weird world of existentialism and magical realism before what s really going on becomes apparent Her boo [...]
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    2. LolaReviewer says:
      Still Life with Tornado had me fooled.I thought it was all about Sarah and her teenage existential crisis at first.But it s not just about her It s about her, her mother, her father, her brother, her family, her future and her past.I ve read dozens and dozens of books dealing with the topic of abuse, yet this one manages to explore the theme in an original way, while keeping a realistic quality to it A.S King s writing moved me It turned my insides into knots It made me hold my breath for at lea [...]
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    3. Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ says:
      Nothing s really original so let s not start, alright In eight days of riding around, that s what I ve discovered It s raining bullshit Probably all the time I m gonna be unoriginal and repeat what my fri en ds already said don t be fooled and think that it s about an angsty teenage girl It s really not Or maybe it is, partially, but A.S King challenges the way we see angsty teenage girls After all, aren t we all a little unfair when judging them What s our goal when we deny their right to be up [...]
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    4. Cait (Paper Fury) says:
      Well this made so so so very little sense to me You know how sometimes your brain just doesn t click with a style I think that be me This author s books have a habit of having super unreliable narrators, to the point where I don t have a freaking clue what s going on Save meGGEST THINGS THAT WENT WRONG FOR ME It says that Sarah is having an existential crisis but she s hallucinating future and past versions of herself and totally acting blank and spaced out She was seriously mentally ill But the [...]
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    5. Taryn says:
      Sarah is in the middle of an existential crisis She stops going to school and spends her days visiting abandoned structures in Philadelphia An event at an art show triggered her crisis, but she actually started falling apart a long time ago The key to unlocking the cause of her disillusionment may be confronting the events of a family vacation to Mexico when she was ten years old Her older brother Bruce hasn t talked to the family in the six years since then She can t remember what happened and [...]
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    6. Neil (or bleed) says:
      Writing a review for this book doesn t seem original view spoiler Read the book to find out why hide spoiler
      Reply

    7. Elise (TheBookishActress) says:
      Now it s been so long that if I bring it up, I ll look like a girl who can t let go of things Teenage girls always have to let go of things If we bring up anything, people say we re bitches who can t just drop it This book is about a lot of things, but most of all, it s about how teenagers are discounted Teens are vehicles for drama rather than being real people Our feelings aren t feelings they re drama And this becomes even worse in cases of abuse, in relationships with parents, because no one [...]
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    8. Tatiana says:
      I love to be surprised by YA authors who manage to find a new angle from which to write about the same topics, too well trodden in YA lit Here is a fresh take on the family abuse scenario Of course, this A.S King, so some magic realism is in the mix Still Life with Tornado follows King s winning formula, but this formula still works for me.
      Reply

    9. Kelly (and the Book Boar) says:
      Find all of my reviews at 52bookminimum Before I even begin, let me forewarn you that there is no way this is going to amount to any semblance of an informative review so different than usual, right This is my fourth or fifth A.S King book and at this point I pretty can only say My first King experience was Everybody Sees the Ants which I read back in the day when my reviews pretty much said Earth shattering stuff like dis was gud and everything I ve read since has been progressively strange . [...]
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    10. Aditi says:
      There are far too many silent sufferers Not because they don t yearn to reach out, but because they ve tried and found no one who cares Richelle E GoodrichA.S King, an award winning and bestselling American author, pens a heart wrenching tale of abuse, magical realism, teenage existential crisis in her new YA novel, Still Life with Tornado where the central characters of 16 years of age is a victim of existential crisis who has lost the creativity and power to imagination to create new art, all [...]
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    11. Stacee says:
      I just finished and like usual, I have no idea wtf I just read And I love it Being inside Sarah s head is unlike any other monologue It s messy and confusing and heartbreaking We get snippets of POV from Sarah s mom, Helen, and they re even worse There were layers upon layers upon layers and each one is revealed so deliciously slow We were learning things the same time Sarah did There isn t anything I can say or try to explain that will make the plot arc make sense It s a jumble of past and pres [...]
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    12. Rose says:
      Initial reaction Probably one of the most original and engaging stories I ve read of its measure Sarah s story and different personalities really held my attention throughout the read.Full review It s on an ironic note that while that the protagonist of this book Sarah was worried about being original , Still Life with Tornado is truly one of the most original reads I ve seen in the YA spectrum to date I honestly have never read a story quite like this blending a bit of speculative fiction magic [...]
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    13. Stephanie *Very Stable Genius* says:
      Actually Sara was several human beings at once Sara is a 16 year old artist, because of circumstances in her past that she has suppressed, has lost the ability and the will to draw or create anything Meanwhile, she stops going to school and wanders the streets of Philadelphia where she meets her 10 year old self, 23 year old self and 40 year old self.Now before you assume this a result of some sort of schizophrenic break like I did , the rest of the people in her family see all these of Saras as [...]
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    14. Carole (Carole's Random Life in Books) says:
      This review can also be found at Carole s Random Life.This book surprised me I really didn t know what to think going into it I grabbed it just because it looked somewhat interesting I actually try not to read too much about a book before I sit down to read For much of the book, I had no idea where things were going but I couldn t stop reading Things shifted in the story at a point and what this book is really about became clear In the end, I really enjoyed this story.Sarah is in the middle of [...]
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    15. Rissa says:
      3.75 This was very real and unreal at the same time Sarahs parents want her to be an artist, she wants to be an artist but she doesnt really care to be an artist, but thats what she s supposed to be I dont really understand the multiple Sarahs young and old that confused me and makes me think i missed something If you watch the show the middle you know that it is very much like real life but a bit exaggerated This book tried to be very real i think but it was very slow and didnt really pick up u [...]
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    16. Ryan Buckby says:
      I m very surprised by this book, wow just wow it was very strange but very unique in it s own way and i actually really enjoyed this one then expected It was a good story and excellent writing, i got the chance to meet the author speak about her writing processes and how she comes up with book ideas Her writing and the way she thinks are very similar which is so good to see in real life and on the page I had never read a book by A.S King before or even heard of her books until i went to the eve [...]
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    17. alexandra says:
      3 5 i love art related books, and STILL LIFE WITH TORNADO was exactly what my art lovin self needed the story follows a girl who is struggling with an existential crisis and can t seem to draw any in reality, i think she s suffering from PTSD i didn t expect this book to be about tough situations, but i didn t mind that it was thing i enjoyed was that there is no romance at all it s rare to find a contemporary YA novel with absolutely no romance, and i felt that this was realistic the protagoni [...]
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    18. Møstʌfy̍ says:
      Likes magical realism I liked how seeing her past and the future made her decide who she is in the present And this idea had become perfect with the other Sarahs writing It was easy to read and made me want to keep reading Even though it had many problems that I ll mention in the dislikes characters The characters were different with distinguishing characteristics ending it wasn t a dark ending so it was great emotions I could empathize with Sarah s emotions, especially when she was scared or sa [...]
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    19. Krista Regester says:
      There is a long list of things that I really loved about this book I really appreciated the fact that although there were different narrators Sarah s dad wasn t one of them I find that some author s feel the need to give perspective from an abuser and it s not necessary A.S King definitely has an acquired style of writing and it s not for everyone but I m finding it s for me The past, future, and really future, Sarahs were an interesting take that could have been used as metaphors but were inste [...]
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    20. Mrs. Europaea says:
      It is difficult for me to review this one.Still Life with TORNADOis about a sixteen year old girl named Sarah who is in the midst of what appears to be some type ofexistential crisis Maybe I m snapping Maybe I ve already snapped and I m coming back to real life Maybe this is some sort of existential crisis I couldn t tell you right now whether my life has meaning or value I don t even know if I m really living POSSIBLE SPOILERS and TRIGGER WARNING As I began the novel, during the first few sente [...]
      Reply

    21. Kels says:
      I know you wanted to let it go I did, too, when I was you But some things you just can t paint over.This novel snuck up on me I honestly did not expect to fall in love with it as much as I did I even contemplated marking this one as a DNF for, oh, I don t know, about the first 40 pages or so The repetitiveness of the text was a little frustrating initially, and it didn t serve to capture my interest as fast as I would have liked But out of nowhere, this novel snatched me up and even now it still [...]
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    22. Text Publishing says:
      Moving, unapologetically strange, skilfully 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 You ll find Still Life s exploration of an artist s inner strength particularly enriching Teen Vogue King understands and writes teen anxieties like no other, resulting in difficult, resonant, compelling characters and stories Kirkus A.S King has always brought her unique touch to her YA novels, but she may have outdone even [...]
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    23. Cori Reed says:
      Not my favourite A.S King book, but still poignant and easy to read with just the right amount of magic
      Reply

    24. Brooke says:
      Damn A.S King doesn t play around she is easily one of the best YA writers today I would recommend any of her books in a heartbeat Each one filled with magical realism elements that are unique stand out from other books with similar concepts characters that you don t quite understand at first only to have them completely shatter your heart at the end That s pretty much what I would summarize her work down to books that can crush you with one blow Each one powerful enough to hold your attention t [...]
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    25. Asheley says:
      I wish I would have liked this one It pains me to say that There is a fantastic story here with this family It is not all positive, but the underlying story involving Sarah s family is so well written that I FELT IT DEEPLY But the multiple Sarah angle was difficult for me I genuinely felt like the multiple versions of Sarah overshadowed this really wonderful opportunity for the rest of the plot The multiple Sarah s were confusing and made the story feel cluttered I felt like I wanted to brush t [...]
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    26. Nadia King says:
      First up, I have to tell you I am not related to A.S.King although I would love her writing talent.Still Life with Tornado is a book about art and the art of living It tells the story of 16 year old Sarah who is having an existential crisis Sarah s family is breaking apart or is it already broken It s a novel about Sarah making peace with her life with the bits that feel like a burr in her sternum with the history that has caused the burr and it tells what happens when Sarah drops out of school. [...]
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    27. Sam says:
      Huge thank you to Penguin Canada for this ARC I am a huge A.S King fan, and I always find her books to be a gripping, emotional, and even terrifying at times, experience Still Life With Tornado is a book about art, abuse, and what it means to feel stagnant when the world is moving past you before your very eyes Sarah is a wonderful protagonist who struggles with so many issues, from her parents being trapped in a loveless marriage, to having her art work sabotaged because she saw something she s [...]
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    28. Reign says:
      I m not trusting myself to review this one because I really love the author that if I tried to write something about this book, I m afraid I might blurt out a marriage proposal for this woman that s how I love her, haha She always put the books she wrote on a higher class of YA at least for me Every.Single.Time But really, I wish I could tell you at least what this book is about, but it s many things Like I expected, I get annoyed and won t connect with the character at first But as the story go [...]
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    29. Emelie Gaughan says:
      I love A.S King and this book just proves why.The way that she writes about her teenage characters is so vivid and true It gives teenage life a realistic perspective which is hard to capture We follow our MC 16y.o Sarah as she tells her story in a stream of consciousness style, exploring her past, what is means to be present, and glimpses to her future We unsurface secrets with her, face harsh realities about domestic abuse, and we find out what a purpose in life means and how we find it.Basical [...]
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    30. Amanda says:
      A new book by A.S.King is always something I look forward to Her writing is captivating, her topics compelling, her characters real and easy to relate to These qualities are all present in her latest novel, Still Life with Tornado.I was immediately drawn in by Sarah s dry, matter of fact manner Her new attitude towards life that nothing is original, that nothing really matters, is something I m sure a lot of us think on a daily basis it s not just me, right It s also clear there is a lot going [...]
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