Pick the Lock

“A roller coaster of a book, Pick the Lock is one thrill after another.”—NPR

“Rendered with prodigious imagination and raw emotion, King’s surrealistic world is not too far from our own.”—The Boston Globe

★ “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

★ “A young adult feminist anthem that thoughtfully addresses issues of abuse.”—SLJ, starred review

★ “Three-time Michael L. Printz Award-winner A.S. King employs her signature surrealism to portray the emotional reality of domestic abuse through an unflinching feminist gaze. [B]eathtakingly successful.”—Shelf Awareness, starred review

“A.S. King always leans into the weaird and surreal (think Vonnegut with a 16-year-old girls at the centre)…. This strange, ambitious novel takes its young readers—and their pain—seriously.”—The Irish Times

“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

An NPR Best Book of the Year
A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year
A Horn Book Fanfare Book