Everybody Sees the Ants by S.A. King
YA Review: Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
Lucky Linderman is anything but lucky. His parents bicker constantly. His chef father-- who Lucky views as a turtle always retreating into his shell-- ignores the family and spends most of his time at the restaurant. His mother, the squid, spends her days swimming laps at the local pool where Lucky is bullied. After a particularly harsh round of bullying that leaves Lucky's cheek scraped raw, his mom takes him for lengthy visit to his aunt and uncle in Arizona. There, Lucky makes a new friend named Ginny who is wilting under parental expectations. Lucky's grandfather was a soldier in the Vietnam War, and his body was never recovered. Under the stress of bullies and bickering parents, as well as the new view of his aunt and uncle's dysfunctional marriage, Lucky often dreams of rescuing his missing-in-action grandfather and playing the role of hero.
The title is a metaphor for handling stress. In times of stress, Lucky sees ants, not-so-small creatures that add both comic relief and meloncholia to the novel. They are his way of handling the stress-- and everybody has their own method of dealing, something that Lucky comes to realize in this coming-of-age novel. Author A.S. King has produced a solid and original book that stands squarely on its own--without a series of sequels.
Lucky Linderman is anything but lucky. His parents bicker constantly. His chef father-- who Lucky views as a turtle always retreating into his shell-- ignores the family and spends most of his time at the restaurant. His mother, the squid, spends her days swimming laps at the local pool where Lucky is bullied. After a particularly harsh round of bullying that leaves Lucky's cheek scraped raw, his mom takes him for lengthy visit to his aunt and uncle in Arizona. There, Lucky makes a new friend named Ginny who is wilting under parental expectations. Lucky's grandfather was a soldier in the Vietnam War, and his body was never recovered. Under the stress of bullies and bickering parents, as well as the new view of his aunt and uncle's dysfunctional marriage, Lucky often dreams of rescuing his missing-in-action grandfather and playing the role of hero.
The title is a metaphor for handling stress. In times of stress, Lucky sees ants, not-so-small creatures that add both comic relief and meloncholia to the novel. They are his way of handling the stress-- and everybody has their own method of dealing, something that Lucky comes to realize in this coming-of-age novel. Author A.S. King has produced a solid and original book that stands squarely on its own--without a series of sequels.
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