Everybody Sees the Ants

Lucky Linderman doesn't have a whole lot going for him. His chef father would rather spend time at his fancy restaurant than with his family, his mom escapes reality by embracing her inner squid at the pool, his grandmother who practically raised him died of cancer when he was 7, and his POW/MIA grandfather (whose nickname became Lucky's namesake) has kept an uncanny presence in the Linderman family since captured by the Viet Cong circa 1972. His problems follow him to school where Nader McMillan has taunted and abused him since grade school. Now Lucky's idea of a joke survey has landed him in the psychologist's office and provoked Nader's really bad side. A horrific instance of bullying sends Lucky and his mother to Tempe, Arizona, for show more some much-needed R&R, where he has heart-to-hearts with his grandfather, makes friends with a gorgeous model, and hangs out with a bunch of martini-drinking, limbo-playing, cheering and swearing ants. How will he be able to face his demons, within and without, when he returns home?

There are so many reasons to love this book. It is darkly humorous with the arrival of a colony of ants acting as Lucky's peanut gallery and has hints of magical realism when Lucky gets souvenirs from his dreams. There are the details of guerrilla warfare deep in the jungles of Vietnam and crushes on beautiful girls. Most prominent, though, is A.S. King's profound message and treatment of bullying as a very real and everyday form of torture. It encompasses more than just Nader giving Lucky a wound the shape of Ohio on his face, but how it can radiate into every stage of life. King doesn't solve every answer to this difficult problem, but she infuses her story with so much realistic wisdom and strength that it should be put in every person's hands who has ever dealt with a bully. Everybody Sees the Ants is a tremendous catalyst for reflection and discussion. This is hands-down one of the top-3 best books I have read this year...it might even be my favorite. show less

This YA coming of age story packs a punch! I laughed a little, I cringed a little and I cried a lot. This book was poignant in a way I haven't experienced in a long time. I had turned my back on this genre for a while now and to be honest, this book made me seriously question why I ever left. There are SO many feels right now having just this moment turned the last page but, for once, I don't feel like waxing poetic with loads of flourishing adjectives BUT I will say this... this book...with its succinct yet touching writing, its minimalistic world building that let the generously dynamic characters lead the show... has changed me in some small yet meaningful way and I don't believe that I will ever forget its message/ feeling. show more

Overall:
What can I say? If you're into the YA genre... if you're into stories about people enmeshed in shitty situations yet they manage to find a way to overcome and become their best versions... then this book is a must read! I devoured this in one sitting and enjoyed that thrill/dread of rushing up to meet the book's end. If you're into that then read no further, you've found your next read!

~ Enjoy show less

I loved King’s The Dust of 100 Dogs and was excited to read this newest book. This is one of those books that combines a lot of interesting topics into a book that is impossible to put down; it will make you think, make you cry, and make you laugh. It was awesome!

Lucky Linderman has issues and they are mostly caused by the people surrounding him. His father never got over his grandfather never returning from the Vietnam war and his mother is trying to pretend everything is fine; both neglect parenting to escape the realities of their lives (his father through cooking, his mother through swimming). Lucky also never asked to be continual beat up and abused by the school bully Nader. His one source of escape are his too real dreams where show more he and his grandfather survive in the war ridden jungles of Laos.

This was a crazy, very funny and heartfelt book. I read the whole thing in one night, it was impossible to put down. It really discussed a breadth of topics; suicide, bullying, bad parenting, life in general, feminism, prescription drug abuse, infidelity, and POWs. It did this all in a way that made you laugh at one point and fight tears the next. It also had little crazy unexplained goings on as well.

This is one of those books that makes you really think as a parent and as a kid. Lucky is severely bullied; his parents aren’t bad people they just aren’t all that present at times. His dad tells him to ignore the kid and the bullying will stop, but this technique hasn’t worked for years. His mother tries to do what his dad wants and has no backbone of her own. Lucky finds himself in a position where he has to figure out how to deal with this all.

When the bullying goes to far Lucky’s mom takes him for a “vacation” with her crazy brother and his even crazier wife. Lucky meets some feminist ninjas, Lucky learns to life weights, and Lucky learns to understand the people around him better.

There is a little magic in here as well. When Lucky visits his grandfather in his dreams in the jungle he not only gets to talk out his issues, but things there are a bit too real. Lucky wakes up in the morning with real injuries and with real tokens of history. It’s a bit ambiguous but incredibly interesting too.

Seriously this book had me laughing my butt off one moment and had me nearly in tears the next. It sucked me in and I couldn’t put it down. It is crazy and unpredictable but absolutely engrossing. I am beginning to learn to not have any expectations regarding King’s writing outside of the fact that it will be awesome and absolutely unpredictable.

Overall this was an absolutely stellar book. Everyone should read it. Kids should read and learn both how bullying affects people and how to combat against it. Adults should read it so they remember how important they are to the kids in their lives. There is something in here for everyone...and it is truly entertaining. Highly recommended for everyone. show less

Lucky Linderman doesn't feel so lucky. He's badly bullied at school by Nader McMillan, and his ex-friend Danny doesn't help. His grandfather never came home from Vietnam, his grandmother died when he was seven, his dad is a "turtle" (retracting into his shell rather than facing anything unpleasant) and his mom is a "squid" (who spends as much time as possible swimming laps in the pool). When Nader's bullying goes up a notch and Lucky's father won't intervene, Lucky's mom takes him from Pennsylvania to Arizona, to stay with Uncle Dave and Aunt Jodi for a couple weeks.

Those couple weeks will prove transformative for Lucky: he meets Virginia Clemens - Ginny - and falls in love a little. She tells him about her parents, who only care about show more her hair modeling, not about her other interests (such as acting in The Vagina Monologues), and Lucky realizes that, although his parents haven't really been able to help him, at least they care.

Throughout, Lucky escapes into dreams of Vietnam where he goes on "rescue missions" to try to bring Granddad Harry home. He brings physical traces from these dreams when he wakes up (shades of Maggie Stiefvater's The Dream Thieves). Lucky also has some imaginary/magical realist companions in his waking life, the titular ants, who provide commentary and sometimes advice.

There are real issues here - bullying, suicide, depression, parents who can't help - but Everybody Sees the Ants doesn't read like an "issue" book, it reads as a real story. When he returns from Arizona, Lucky has the strength to say goodbye to Granddad Harry, tell his father about his dreams, and tell Nader to back off.

Quotes

How do you tell someone she's changed you forever?

You're not coming here, you're escaping there. show less

A.S. King already won my recommendation with Please Ignore Vera Dietz and her lovely Printz Honor speech, but now she’s two for two in my book and needs to rack up a similar score in others’ books.

On the surface, Everybody Sees The Ants seems like a bunch of issues hurled together: high school freshman Lucky Linderman has a grandfather MIA in Vietnam, a “turtle” father who doesn’t engage his family, a “squid” mother who escapes to the pool all the time, and a serious bully to deal with, Nader. If that weren’t enough, Lucky attempts his public polling assignment by asking people how they would prefer to commit suicide, thus bringing the guidance department on his head to make sure he won’t do anything drastic to himself show more or others. Lucky is a little crazy, but only in the form of seeing tiny ants everywhere he goes who act like little mascots to follow him around and pantomime reactions to everything that happens.

I was extremely relieved that there were not after-school special monologues delivered to and from every character. I am also glad that the way Lucky deals with his problems is not cut and dry, though he does grow as a person and experiences some Big Moments that he processes mostly within his head. After nailing the temperament of the “older teen despairing” archetype with Vera Dietz, King nails the “younger teen looking for a role model” archetype with Lucky. His reactions to girls (along with The Vagina Monologues), his grandfather’s MIA status (along with his escapist dreams to join him in Vietnam), and his general lack of confidence (of course he can’t tattle!) all smack of adolescent psyche, and anyone opposed to how the material is handled might be surprised how much truth King expresses.

There is romance in the book, though it is not the focal point of the story. Nonetheless, teenage billboard model Ginny is an interesting foil for Lucky in that her double life involves leading a charmed life with little freedom, whereas Lucky has plenty of freedom but little charm. Ginny has some Manic Pixie Dream Girl in her, but her plot resolves in a way that protects her from perfection, no matter how much of it Lucky might assume in her.

I know the cover isn’t a devastating close-up of a girl’s eyeball or an iconic symbol, and that the title isn’t “The Girl…” or a standalone word or a sequel, but trust me, this book is a relatable winner for anyone who remembers when their awareness bubble grew from one person to over six billion. show less

So, as indicated by my rating, I absolutely loved this book.

I have not read anything like it before.

It is about bullying. And about so much more than that, too.

It's about life, I guess, or rather about living. It might seem like a story that you have already read; trust me, it's not.

I have nothing but good things to say.

Lucky Linderman, with his awkward charm and sensitivity, tells both a painful and uplifting story. There was something about him that left me with a Gary D. Schmidt-vibe: A character that you can effortlessly relate to, someone that you can and want to believe in. You want everything good to happen to them, because they just deserve it.

All of the characters in this book, in fact, were real and memorable. Even when you show more didn't like them, it was not because they were flat or stupid - it was for real reasons, just as though they were real people. And I have no difficulty in believing that there are, somewhere, people just like these.

The prose was beautiful in its simplicity, in its straight-forwardness, in the assured way it made even the most bizarre situations and allegories seem irrevocably real. Also, the way that the story was told: there were moments that were so swift and poignant, they left my heart stuttering.

This book was worth every second. I loved it. show less

This was a rather enjoyable, but not great, story about a boy who is horribly bullied and escapes by going inside his dreams to a POW camp in Vietnam where he talks with his lost grandfather and attempts to rescue him.

The writing was okay, nothing stunning, but the story itself was better. The magical realism aspect did not really appeal to me at all and left me feeling a little bored, but at the same time wondering why the hell nobody is acknowledging the fact that Lucky keeps bringing things back from his dreams.

Speaking of not acknowledging things, I was angered by the fact that absolutely nobody did anything to stop Nader and his cronies. He sexually and physically attacked people and everyone just turned away. I know this sort of show more thing happens in real life, but seeing this sort of thing makes me mad.

Lucky and his mom's time in Arizona was interesting and probably my favorite times in the whole book. His aunt is batshit crazy and I would have gone off on her so many times. The uncle turned out to be a huge douche which was upsetting, but probably realistic.

The resolution was satisfactory, but I would have liked to get an expansion on the Nader thing.

Overall, I think my "meh" feelings about YA contemporary in general may have colored my feelings about this book since I didn't really find myself hooked. show less