Dig is the tenth novel by award-winning American author, A.S. King. The sixteen-year-old and his mom are new in this Pennsylvania town (though Mom says she has old business here). It’s January, and snowing a blizzard; he gets a snow shovel from the guy in the house next door to their leaky apartment, and becomes The Shoveler. For the old couple advertising painting work, he’s the painter kid.

The seventeen-year-old has lived here all her life. Her parents are rich so she doesn’t need to work, but she does the Drive-thru at Arby’s so she can have her own money (she won’t take theirs) and supply her clients. She shares obnoxious customer stories with her best friend Ian, of whom her racist parents and grandparents don’t approve because of his colour. She sees herself as CanIHelpYou.

Malcolm’s dad is dying of cancer; he really wants to spend more time with his dad (no, he won’t be phased by the sickness and ass-wiping) but keeps getting shuffled off to his grandparents. Marla insists on trying to make him eat lamb (he can’t), while Gottfried is apologetic; they’re both racists, filthy rich and Marla, in particular, is very tight with their money.

Loretta wishes her mom would not keep taking her dad back; he’s violent and abusive. If her mom had some money, they could escape. Loretta gets away from it all with her flea circus: she’s the Ringmistress. She remembers her Pop-Pop fondly but hasn’t seen her grandparents in years.

Into (and out of) each of their lives flickers The Freak. Is she real? She seems magical, and helpful, in strange ways, sorting out their thoughts, nudging them in the right direction.

Gottfried knows he spent too many years building their fortune while neglecting his five children; Marla’s warped conviction to make her children self-sufficient has led to their resentment of her, and she and Gottfried have lost more than they will ever realise.

King’s superb story is carried by these smart and quirky teens. Everyone is flawed, but the adults have had longer to mess up. It’s easy to wish for good outcomes for these young people, who deserve better than they’ve had so far. Each has their own way of coping with what life deals out to them; there’s hope in that.

King’s characters harbour secrets and guilt, but also display a capacity for love and adaptability. Her demonstration of how entrenched racist/white supremacist attitudes can seem almost unconscious is thought provoking, as is the idea of segregation of donated blood; the male mindset allowing, even encouraging rape and violence is confronting and will be a challenge to alter.

It’s part murder mystery, part lamentation for the state of human relations, part rallying call to young adults to think for themselves, to question authority; it’s an utterly brilliant read.