Everybody Sees the Ants

Everybody Sees the Ants
Author: A.S. King
Genre: Social Issues, Violence
Pages: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown Books

This is honestly a life-changing book. It's a story of sadness, despair, weakness, strength, triumph, and family.

Everybody Sees the Ants  is a story of Lucky Linderman, a sophomore in high school. He's got a POW MIA grandfather, a squid mother, a turtle father, and a relentless bully. After a particularly bad experience, his mother packs him up and flies across the country to visit his wack-o aunt and uncle.

 The book powerfully and honestly deals with grief, weakness, dysfunctional families, bullying, sexual maturity, parental abuse, infidelity, and coping. It sounds like quite the downer, but I promise it's not. The characters and plot certainly bring the reader into Lucky's head and create a black moment, but the story is Lucky's journey from weakness to strength. It's full of hope and triumph and healing, and it's got a great ending.

The book rings true in many ways, on every page.

“The world is full of assholes. What are you doing to make sure you're not one of them?”  

“She's like a kindness ninja. Sneaking around in order to help people.”   

“I bring my hand to my face and pull away tiny pieces of the jagged scab. My face reflects in the rounded airplane window, and I see it is now a tiny Massachusetts, with Cape Cod curling toward my ear. In only a few more days it will be gone. I feel the fresh, smooth parts and marvel at how soft they are. New skin amazes me. New skin is a miracle. It is proof that we can heal.”  (Ok, that one's more than a line. But it was really good!)

Everybody Sees the Ants  is in no way a light read, but it's a good one. It's a book to read and ponder.

Word of Caution: The F word is used liberally. There's one detailed scene of sexual assault. Scenes of bullying. Read it before you give it as a gift.

Slammed

Slammed
By Colleen Hoover
Genre: Romance, Death
Pages: 352
Publisher: Atria Books

So I've bashed several books here, and I was starting to lose faith the the YA genre. But then I read Slammed. Wow.

Slammed is the story of Layken, an 18 yr old high school senior with a mom and a brother. After her father dies, the family moves from Texas to Michigan. There she meets Will Cooper, and her world gets slammed.

I honestly haven't stopped thinking about this book since I finished it a week ago. Colleen Hoover does a wonderful job of showing the process of grief and the ability we have to feel joy even in the midst of pain. Layken is delightfully authentic; she displays the capacity for great maturity and great immaturity typical of 18 yr olds.

Hoover allows the reader to cry and laugh along with Layken, showing her in vulnerable, relatable situations.

"When I wake up it's midnight. I lie there a moment, hoping I'll come to the conclusion that this was all a bad dream, but the clarity never comes. When I pull back the covers, my hair clip falls from my hands and lands on the floor. this small piece of plastic, so old it's probably covered in lead-ridden paint. I think about how I felt the day my father gave it to me, and how all the sadness and fears were eliminated as soon as he put it in my hair. I lean forward and retrieve it from the floor, pressing down in the center so that it snaps open. I move a section of my bangs to the opposite side and secure it in place. I wait for the magic to take effect, but sure enough, everything still hurts. I pull the clip from my hair and throw it across the room and climb back into bed."

Besides the beautiful story of a family coping with grief, I loved Layken's relationship with Will. They have struggles and challenges because they're both flawed characters. Their relationship shows the fluidity between love and friendship, the conflict between loving two things at once, and hope for a brighter future.

It's just a beautifully written, thought-provoking book. The plot moves quickly with some unexpected turns but still allows some resting places to stop and absorb the emotion-laden characters.

A few bonuses I enjoyed were the slam poetry sprinkled throughout and the Avett Brothers quotes at the beginning of every chapter. I've included a video of each if you're unfamiliar.

We All Fall Down

We All Fall Down

Written by Robert Cormier

Published by Laural-Leaf Books in 1993

208 pages.

Genre: Suspense, Family.

Summery: Four teenage boys trash the Jerome's home one night. 14 yr old Karen comes home while they are there. She is assaulted and beaten in to a coma. The story is told from several characters, including Karen's sister Jane, one of the trashers, and a psychopath/schiztophrenic murderer who thinks he's 11.

Response: Wow, this book is freaky weird. It was a little hard to get into, but then I got sucked in and sort of enjoyed it, I guess. It's really intense.

Word of Caution: Graphic description of the trashing and beating, teenage drinking, language.

Stuck In Neutral

Stuck in Neutral

Written by Terry Trueman

Published by HarperTeen in 2001

128 pages.

Genre: Suspense, Family

Summery: Shawn is 14 and he was born with cerebral palsy. He has zero muscle control. He can't even voluntarily blink, focus his eyes, or swallow. But there's nothing wrong with his mind. He knows how to read and he has a perfect memory. He enjoys the world around him. He loves his family. Which is why he's worried when he finds out that his father might kill him.

Response: This is hands down the best book I have read this semester. It is incredible. It will literally change your life. I really connected to this book because I have worked as a therapist for handicapped children. I know how they are so much more than most people take them for. Every single person has a personality. They are people. Read this book.

Word of Caution: This book will have significant effect on your opinion of retarded people.

The Big Game of Everything

The Big Game of Everything

Written by Chris Lynch

Published by HarperTeen in 2010

288 pages.

Genre: Family

Summery: Union Jack is a kid with a brother named Egon, a sister who's perfect, and parents named Leonard and Peach. And then there's Granpus, who hires his grankids to work for him on his golf course. This is the story of that summer.

Response: This is a great book. It has funny parts and quirky characters, but it also deals with more important themes like self-worth, family relations, and friendship.

Word of Caution: It's mostly clean, but there's a few sexual references and a couple swear words.

Split Image

Split Image

Written by Mel Glenn

Published by HarperTeen in 2002

160 pages.

Genre: Multicultural, Social Issues, Family

Summery: Laura Li's family moved to the US from China. Her father is always gone on business, and her mother never lets her have any fun. She has to stay home and take care of her handicapped older brother. She is the most beautiful girl at her highschool; all the boys love her. She is a model student, and an excellent student librarian. No one can see the pain that she's hiding. A fascinating and haunting story told in free verse.

Response: I loved this book. The poems are clear and descriptive. The story is gripping and unpredictable. I recommend it very highly.

Word of Caution: Suicide.

Trouble

Trouble

Written by Gary D. Schmidt

Published by Graphia in 2010

300 pages.

Genre: Multicultural, Family, Adventure

Summery: Henry Smith's father always said, "If you build your house far enough from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you." That was true for the first 14 years of Henry's life. Then when Henry's older brother Franklin is hit by a car, Henry has to learn to deal with Trouble. He feels called to climb Katahdin, like he and his brother had planned to do. The journey to the mountain is enlightening, to say the least. This is a story of racism, forgiveness, grief, family, history, war, and love.

Response: I loved this book. I think I might buy it. So wonderfully written and sincerely genuine. It pulls heartstrings and tickles funny bones. (That last sentence was incredibly cliche. Sorry.) It's tragic, but still uplifting. It starts out a little slow, but by a few chapters into it, I was hooked. Read this book.

Word of Caution: Describes some rather violent scenes. I don't remember any bad language, but there might be a little.

Minerva Clark Gets a Clue

Minerva Clark Gets a Clue
Written by Karen Karbo
Published by Bloomsbury USA Children's Books in 2005
224 pages.

Genre: Humor, Family, Social Issues

Summery: Minerva Clark is tall. Really tall. She pretty much dwarfs everyone in her 7th grade class. And she has thick, crazy, curly hair. Like most 7th grade girls, she's painfully self-conscious. Add her height and hair to the normal quota of self-consciousness, and she's off the charts. But then her older brother does a science experiment on her, and BANG - personality transplant!! She's not shy or self-conscious. At all. Ever. That day turns out to be weird in other ways too, like when her favorite cousin gets arrested for a broken taillight. Minerva becomes a crime fighting detective with the help of her best friend and pet ferret.

Response: Loved it. It's funny and cute and real. It was a bit of a mystery, but refreshingly unpredictable. Or maybe I'm just naive. Which is possible. But really, it made me giggle and groan and occasionally smack my forehead. I like her relationship with her older brothers- they don't fight, and they have inside jokes. I recommend it.

Word of Caution: Um...... I think it might drop a couple of swear words. And there's one time that a kid smokes. The parents are gone all the time, so the kids eat on the couch (If you're a neat freak- get over it).

"Love Is a Missing Person"

Love Is a Missing Person
Written by M. E. Kerr
Published by Trophy PR in 1990
141 pages

Genre: Family, Social Issues, Multicultural

Summery: Suzy Slade is 15, and she's not the favorite child. Her parents are divorced, and her father chose her sister, Chicago. Of course he did. Who wouldn't pick beautiful, charming Chicago? But Suzy's life takes some twists and turns when Chicago shows up and wants to trade parents. And then it takes some more twists when her father remarries. And then it takes some more twists when there's a robbery in town. The ending......well, I'll let you read it.

Response: This was one of those books. The kind that makes you think on the last page. Except you're thinking, "Now what was that all about?" The book is very short, but there's a lot to it. I just don't know what it is yet. I'm going to read it a few more times.

Word of Caution: Some bad language.

"Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress"

"Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress"
Written by Maria Padian
Published by Knopf Books For Young Readers in 2009
288 pages

Genre: Friends/Social Issues, Sports

Summery: Brett McCarthy is the star of the soccer team, an honor student, and has a BFF. Then she plays a prank. Bam! Her world flips. Brett McCarthy is redefined as a twice-suspended-social-outcast-nerd. She even gets kicked off her beloved soccer team. And on top of all this, something is wrong with her grandmother. But Brett comes out on top in the end, thanks to her true friends and a giant potato bazooka.

Response: Oh my heavens. If Brett was real, we'd be BFF's. Seriously. I loved this story. It's real and funny and full of marvelous new words. I can't count the times this book made me laugh. It reminded me of my own Junior High friend problems, except Brett's are way worse than mine were. I liked the themes of friendship, change, responsibility, and family. The only thing I didn't like: it said that Maine potatoes are better than Idaho's. False!!

Word of Caution: May bring back memories of Jr High. Contains a few mild swear words.

"The Adoration of Jenna Fox"

"The Adoration of Jenna Fox"

Written by Mary E. Pearson

Published by Walker Books Ltd in 2010

272 pages

Genre: Sci-Fi, Romance, Ethics

Summery: Jenna Fox wakes up from a coma in a strange new home with a strangely unfamiliar body. She knows she was involved in an accident, but she can't remember anything about it. She can't remember much of anything period. Her father lives in another city and comes to visit. Her mother behaves oddly and is extremely protective of Jenna. Her grandmother hates her, in Jenna's opinion. Jenna goes through a fascinating journey of discovery of who she is and what the world thinks and does. The novel takes place in a futuristic world where cloning and genetic modification are commonly used.

Response: I liked it. The work examines the ethics of the medical world, the possibilities of science, the dangers of science, the political world, the education system, the value of life, weighing the odds, the value of friends, the power struggle between parents and teens, and the beauty and frailty of the human mind. Read this book if you liked "Fahrenheit 451". Read it if you didn't like "Fahrenheit 451".

Word of Caution: You might begin to look more closely at the health care system.