Dig is a young adult novel written by an award-winning American author Amy Sarig King under the name A.S. King. Dig is the eleventh novel by A.S. King, published in 2019. She is an acclaimed author known for writing gripping young adult and short fiction such as Everybody Sees the Ants, Ask the Passengers, and Still Life with Tornado. The story revolves around five estranged teenage cousins who struggle through hard times. Their grandparents, Marla and Gottfried, were potato farmers who made wealth from their land. Currently, Gottfried and Marla live a lavish lifestyle, ignoring the poor condition of their children and grandchildren.
The story introduces five cousins. The Freak likes to dig holes, metaphorically indicating his knack for uncovering secrets. Loretta lives in poverty and works at a fast food counter, avoiding shady businesses like her ex-boyfriend's. She doesn't like her father because he is abusive and racist. CanIHelpYou? has rich parents but works with her friend Ian, which her racist parents dislike. The Shoveler is an introvert who prefers to spend his time outside instead of socializing with other kids in his neighborhood. Malcolm lives with his grandparents because his father's health is deteriorating from cancer, but Marla and Gottfried don't sympathize with them. He is just trying to survive in a loveless home.
At a family reunion, all the cousins meet each other and confront their grandparents' negative influence on their childhood. Gottfried and Marla's racist, toxic behavior and lack of parental support made their kids bitter. In the end, the teens promise themselves to live a better life free from their grandparents' beliefs. Dig is a complex read, and A.S. King explains how neglectful parenting affects a whole generation. At the time it was published, critics praised the novel's surrealism. Kirkus Review reviewed King's novel as highly meditative and represents a stunningly original tale.
