Everybody Sees the Ants

Lucky isn't that Lucky. He is relentlessly bullied and his parents are powerless to intervene and advocate for him because they are paralyzed by their dysfunctional marriage. A social studies assignment to design a survey and chart the results goes horribly wrong when Lucky decides to poll students about which method of suicide they would choose. Not a good idea. After a particularly brutal attack, Lucky's mom takes him away to visit family in Arizona, and give them both a break from the pressures of home. Three weeks lead to a lot of self-discovery, and a highly satisfactory conclusion.
A.S. King, author of the Printz Honor Book Please Ignore Vera Dietz, took a lot of risks with this novel. The ants serve as a comic Greek chorus and work well in providing a counter-balance to the bleakness of Lucky's life. The dream sequences in which Lucky tries to free his long lost grandfather from a Vietnamese prison camp are also effective, if a bit of a stretch at times. However, Dietz pulls it off.
In reflecting upon Everybody Sees the Ants, Going Bovine by Libba Bray comes to mind. Bray took similar risks, trying new ideas and breaking down the barriers between the real and the fantastic. It is a joy to see authors testing their skills and pushing boundaries and concepts.
As a food experience I would rate this as Lucky's favorite dinner. Yogurt marinated chicken with tomato and pineapple skewers on a bed of rice. Flavorful, unusual, and for someone open to risk. Yogurt marinated chicken isn't necessarily for everyone, but if you are willing to bite, you will find it absolutely delicious!

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Formerly Shark Girl

by Kelly Bingham Formerly shark girl is a truly beautiful book written in verse. It is the story of a girl who lost her arm in a shark attack as she fights her way through her senior year. She is an amazingly determined character, who any teen can relate to, especially her struggles with her dreams and choosing a college. Unlike some books where things are a bit to cliche or overly dramatic, I think this really hit recovery from a major injury right on. She works long and hard to bring her painting skills back to what they were, since she lost her right hand, and struggles in science with tweezers during a dissection. The small things that don't seem that important and Jane's reaction to them is perfect. I especially loved her conviction that she is fine, that she has moved passed it and her determination to prove herself. When she faces water for the first time, a large swimming pool, and is too proud to admit how her whole world collapsed, I saw a lot of myself in her. I know...

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Parched

Written by: Georgia Clark Gulp down a tall glass of H2O and some water crackers for this one! Yay for sci-fi/adventure/romance/dystopian original novels! Seriously, I really liked this book. Clark is a charismatic writer, and her characters are complex and fun to get to know. Tessendra Rockwood is a spoiled rich girl who (for reasons initially unknown) leaves the protective dome of her city, Eden, to camp out in the Badlands. The contrast is horrifying; people in Eden live clean, happy lives and have an abundance of precious water, while in the Badlands children fight over the smallest sip of muddy liquid. Tessendra is eventually found by a member of the rebel group Kudzu, who are intent on ending the growing inequality. She returns home and lives with her uncle, who she thinks may be helping Eden keep the water in and the Badlanders out. She works undercover with the Kudzu, and eventually hatches a plan to help free the water, all while balancing her time studying at home with her Unc...

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Doon

By: Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon Once again I found myself reading a romance. This is not exactly my genre. While I can admire romances in books with intricate plots, romances just don't do the same thing for me. In general, I find it annoying when one character is constantly thinking about another. This was an average romance. The main character Veronica was in love with another character, Jamie, the entire time. There was some suspense and action but most of it was about the romance, which makes sense, because Doon is a romance. I won't say it was an extraordinary romance but it also didn't fall short. Veronica is a girl from the United States. Her dad left her when she was 12, her mom is marrying someone she hates, and her boyfriend just left her. Overall, her life is pretty bad. Her friend Kenna takes her to Scotland for the summer where they discover a magical world called Doon. Doon passes time at about...

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