It's one of those books I hesitate to recommend, but quite enjoyed myself, you know?

I thought the bullying side of the story was interesting, and I am hard-pressed to think of a YA author who writes characters as complicated and thorny and difficult and realistically flawed as A.S. King. However, I did not care for the ants or the dream sequences.

Everybody Sees the Ants is a poignant novel rife with important themes, particularly bullying. It's well-written, but it felt a little bit disjointed, which made it difficult to understand what was going on at first. Lucky undergoes some incredible but believable character growth, and I think that's ultimately what helps the book convey its powerful message.

4.5. This book was way beyond what I expected. "New skin amazes me. New skin is a miracle. It is proof that we can heal."

Amazing! I love the way this author writes. Absolutely heartbreaking and beautiful.

Another great book from A.S King.

Like every book of AS King's, I loved it! Bullying, POW/MIA, finding your normal and facing your fears. When I saw her speak (virtually) at NCTE in 2018, she talked about the importance of adults listening to what teens tell us, take them seriously, and don't blow it off. Every one of her books makes the point, but this one especially.

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 this book, 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.

tl;dr Lucky's mom whisks him off to Arizona for part of the summer to escape a father obsessed with cooking more than family, a dangerous bully, and a school year pockmarked with the frustrating results of a joke gone awry. His dreams and the ants, however, will stick around for the trip.

Themes: ants, bullying, family issues, POW-MIA, lady-partsVaginas

I wouldn't really recommend the audiobook on this one...the narrator's voice had a creepy edge to it that made me concerned that Lucky was going to succumb to the pressures of his life and go on a shooting rampage. This concern was probably amplified somewhat by recent events, but from other reviews it sounds like Lucky comes off as a more positive, funny, do-gooder and genuinely nice person. I didn't feel like I heard the same Lucky in the audiobook.

3 stars for the empowering, powerful, inspiring subject matter. 2 stars not given for the awkward writing style.