Everybody Sees the Ants

by A.S. King

Lucky Linderman didn't ask for his life. He didn't ask his grandfather not to come home from the Vietnam War. He didn't ask for a father who never got over it. He didn't ask for a mother who keeps pretending their dysfunctional family is fine. And he didn't ask to be the target of Nader McMillan's relentless bullying, which has finally gone too far.

But Lucky has a secret--one that helps him wade through the daily mundane torture of his life. In his dreams, Lucky escapes to the war-ridden jungles of Laos--the prison his grandfather couldn't escape--where Lucky can be a real man, an adventurer, and a hero. It's dangerous and wild, and it's a place where his life just might be worth living. But how long can Lucky keep hiding in his dreams before reality forces its way inside?

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Magical Realism, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Fantasy, Teen

279 pages, Hardcover

First published October 3, 2011

About the author

A.S. King is the author of the highly-acclaimed I CRAWL THROUGH IT, Walden Award winner GLORY O'BRIEN'S HISTORY OF THE FUTURE, REALITY BOY, 2013 LA Times Book Prize winner ASK THE PASSENGERS, 2012 ALA Top Ten Book for Young Adults EVERYBODY SEES THE ANTS, and 2011 Michael L. Printz Honor Book PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ and THE DUST OF 100 DOGS as well as a collection of award-winning short stories for adults, MONICA NEVER SHUTS UP.

Look for Amy's work in anthologies DEAR BULLY, BREAK THESE RULES, ONE DEATH NINE STORIES, and LOSING IT. Two more YA novels to come in 2016 & 2018. Find more at www.as-king.com.

p.s.- If I don't accept your friend request, don't feel sad. It's because I don't really use Goodreads even though I'm completely thrilled that you do!

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

A.S. King: "Everybody Sees the Ants originated from an idea that we are all prisoners. An idea that bullying is a widely ignored form of torture. An idea that only we can choose to escape from our own prisons. An idea that no one can take something from us if we don't give it."

This is a very powerful novel. It is a story for everyone because it's true that everyone has to had to face some form of shit in their lives in one way or another. Every day all over the world people are being hurt, sexually abused, put down, bullied... friends and family members die, or change, or leave, or join the army and never come back. This book is Lucky Linderman's story.

Lucky Linderman is a boy who has been bullied constantly since he was seven, a boy who's grandad never returned from Vietnam and who's dad never got over it. His mum spends her time swimming to avoid facing their dysfunctional homelife, his uncle has numerous affairs while his aunt battles her need for pills, and Lucky escapes to the only place he can be the man he's always wanted to be: his dreams. At first glance, Lucky Linderman is probably nothing like you, his life may even sound to you like any typical piece of melodramatic fiction... but as this novel progresses you will eventually see how all of us have a little bit of Lucky inside, no matter how well we hide it or how well we've managed to cope with it.

For me, Everybody Sees the Ants wasn't quite as powerful as Please Ignore Vera Dietz, mostly because it didn't break my heart. It is also much stranger, more unique in style and execution, some people may be put off by this. But still, in my opinion, this book is for everyone. For all of us. Because whether or not we can relate to Lucky's individual story doesn't matter so much. We've all experienced life's crap at times. When someone has hurt us, humiliated us, when we've lost someone or a relationship has broken down, when things didn't work out like we'd hoped they would, and when our family and friends couldn't understand. The ants are our worries, our fears, our failures, our insecurities, and when it all comes down to it, we've all seen the ants.

[Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course we are. You are. They are. Now what are we doing to change that, tell me?



Let's clear the air right away : Each and every one of the characters is complex and believable, from the teenagers to the adults in their lives. As it is, they're flawed. They're realistic. Once again I have to say that in my book that's the most important in a contemporary. I don't care about perfect people, otherwise I would read old fairytales, you know, those where the girl is waiting for her perfect guy to step in to save the day. *pukes*

✐ A.S. King created such a believable and relatable voice for Lucky - I mean relatable in the "I talk 2659 words in a minute way" because strangely, while reading the book I couldn't help but feel like Lucky spoke in a really fast fashion. Am I weird? Tell me? Anyway - I talk like that. Well, I learned to talk slower because, DUH, it's better for a teacher when your pupils actually UNDERSTAND what you say but in my personal life? Ask my boyfriend, he'll tell you. I'm exhausting.

But moving on.

"Apparently, Evelyn Schwartz went blabbing to the guidance counselor about my questionnaire. She said it was "morbid" and "creepy". (Evelyn Schwartz has a T-shirt that says HE DIED FOR ME with a picture of a dead guy nailed to a cross on it. Oh, the irony.)"

Moreover, I'm a sucker for this kind of irreverent humor, and from the moment Lucky joked about the guy who died for this annoying girl (aka, Jesus), I knew that he and I would be BBF forever. And guess what! I was right! Happy dance right now because to be right is such an awesome feeling (sorry about that, but you have to admit...).

Don't get fooled by his sarcastic humor though, because Lucky's inner thoughts are sometimes full of self-deprecation - don't say you don't know what I mean. But I'll come back to that later.



► Everybody Sees the Ants made me furious. So angry at all these cowards, because you know what? They're sadly believable.

"Because it's not about kicking his ass. It's about getting away from him. Getting away from all assholes. I don't want to become one - I just want to escape them."

Indeed this book deals with bullying, and in my opinion A.S. King handled this tough issue with a lot of honesty and talent. Indeed contrary to other books I could read, every struggle, every fear, every despair Lucky feels strikes an honest and familiar chord, making him so relatable to me even though I've never been bullied. Yeah, I've never been bullied, maybe (I hope) you've never been either, but then, who can say without a doubt that he never felt awkward or worthless or lonely someday? Who? Let's be frank : nobody.

Everybody sees the ants, guys. Everybody knows these moments where it seems that nobody can understand who they are and what they need.

Moreover, to me the way the adults were portrayed was pretty realistic, as it showed the different reactions children meet when facing bullying. As a teacher, I often have to deal with children's fights or altercations and the two most frequent reactions from adults are :
1)You have to ignore them and
2)Why didn't you fight back?

The truth is, it doesn't work most of the time. It doesn't work, and children know it - they need us to step in and help them, to frame the discussion between them. Young bullies need someone to tell them that IT'S NOT OKAY, and bullied need to be heard and feel understood. In my opinion to let 7-10 years old children deal with this kind of things alone is a fucking coward move, but sadly, it is how most of adults react.

This or as Aunt Jodie, calling specialists without even LISTENING for starters. Oh, and do you know what maddens me the most? People who tell me that it's "children worthless stuff". Yeah, right. Because it's so funny to be pushed or belittled. I mean, come on. Stop being assholes. Yes I believe that children need to talk together to solve their problems but they do need us to provide them a safe bubble to manage that. I don't care who their parents are, at school they're all equals and each and every one of them must follow the rules. That's all.

For sure I'm not saying that I have all the answers, because I don't, and maybe there aren't right answers. But I try. It's frightening, but I try, and if I'm sure that I fuck up badly sometimes, well, I do my best anyway, and I can only hope that it's something.

So, yeah. Lucky's story moved me. However, I had a hard time connecting with the characters in the dream part. Indeed whilst it didn't put me off completely, I have to admit that it confused me and decreased my interest. I'm not usually thrown off guard by weird stuff, but what can I say? It didn't work for me, as I couldn't help but disconnect from the story each time we were brought into one of his dreams. More generally, I got the impression that the plot dragged at some parts (in the middle in particular) and if I wasn't bored, I wasn't captivated either unfortunately.

Anyway, despite my inability to thoroughly love this book, some parts punched me in the guts and I feel the need to let my rating at 3.5 because I frankly believe that this kind of realistic stories is needed. Teenagers need to read about bullying. Adults need to acknowledge it. I know, I know, most of adults would say that they do acknowledge it but trust me, in real life? They don't always do it. I don't want to live in a world where we have to slap someone in order for him to let us alone. I don't care about what everybody says. There are other ways to deal with it, and I see every day that it works. Yes, that's true, it takes time and energy, but for real? It's so worth it.

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

For more of my reviews, please visit:

[Lora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so, so glad I decided to give King another try despite my mixed feelings over her Printz Honor, Please Ignore Vera Dietz. Everybody Sees the Ants is an astonishingly wonderful gift to young-adult literature, one that I feel extremely fortunate to have read.

Since the age of seven, Lucky Linderman has been having dreams in which he visits his grandfather in the prison camp where he's resided since being listed as MIA in the Vietnam War back in 1972. When his grandmother died, she asked Lucky to get her husband back, and the dreams started that very night. Coincidentally, this was also the same day Lucky began being bullied by Nader McMillan. So are these dreams really a way to get his grandfather back and hopefully heal the wound Lucky's father's always had from having never met his own father, or are they just a way to escape the harsh reality that is Lucky's life?
Another escape comes in the form of a summer vacation with his mother in Tempe, Arizona. There, Lucky bonds with his Uncle Dave, dodges an unnecessary intervention orchestrated by his pill-popping Aunt Jodi, and meets a beautiful older girl who shows him another side of life. Everybody Sees the Ants is a masterpiece that should not be overlooked by anyone who enjoy its genre.

If every story I read and its characters were as original and appealing as Everybody Sees the Ants and its characters are, I dare I say I'd get nothing done save for reading. Although all of the characters are unique and serve their purpose to make the story what it is — an amazing, inspiring example of human life and its struggles — one character in particular stood out.
I've not fallen nor cared for a character as much as Lucky in a long, long time. With each sentence, word, action — he stole my heart and made me root for him more and more with the turn of each page. He is a young, bullied kid who's not even had his first kiss yet. He's a boy with an impossible mission to save his grandfather. He's a little insecure, a proud mama's boy, and an awesome cook. He's an incredible character and all I wanted was to give him a big hug and smooch on the noggin, if such a thing were possible. I dare you not to fall for Lucky Linderman.

Upon finishing this little gem, I felt an overwhelming since of gratification and elation. It's hard to find a book that makes you feel like turning back to the first page and starting all over again, but I felt just that when I reached the end of Everybody Sees the Ants. I didn't feel ready to leave these characters, their story and lives.
Although I wasn't completely sold after reading Please Ignore Vera Dietz, I could tell that King was capable of greatness and she proved my instinct right when she wrote this story. This just shows that you shouldn't judge an author by the first book of theirs you read.

This is a book I'll cherish and reread many times in future, always enjoying it more each time. Highly, highly recommended. 4.5 stars

[Em Lost In Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*.

[Crowinator · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actual rating: Is it lame to say 4.5 stars?

So this review is long, inadequate, and perhaps a bit rambling and confusing. It doesn't really have plot spoilers (this is a quiet book where not a lot happens, action-wise), but it does have thematic spoilers, so read at your own peril. It's always harder to write about the books that really mean something to me, as opposed to the books I merely like a whole lot, and I can't do it without that. If you want to avoid even the thematic spoilers, just read the first five paragraphs (including this one, of course).

As a 30-something adult reading young adult literature, I’m going to come to these books from a different place than someone who is 12, or 16, or even 20. I do have many keen memories of those times in my life, and I do work with teenagers, and I sometimes feel like a 15-year-old (tom)boy (at least, I do when I geek out over video games and anime and science fiction and horror and other adults look at me that way, like they can't believe I'm a functioning member of society), but I can never fully put myself back in that place, not really. Some books get me close, really, really close; others books, I can see the appeal for its target audience, even if I can’t connect to it myself.

Obviously, this is a “no duh” realization, but it became a really important one for this book. Sometimes, a book like this one comes along, where I can not only get really, really close to how I felt as a teenager, but can also see an entirely different layer to the story, one that back when I was 12, or 16, or even 20, I might have noticed but wouldn’t have mattered as much to me. In this case, it’s King’s nuanced portrayal of all of the important adults in Lucky’s life: his parents, his aunt and uncle in Arizona, and his dead grandfather Harry (with whom Lucky interacts in his dreams).

Despite his name, Lucky Linderman doesn’t feel lucky. After creating an ill-conceived school survey on suicide (“If you were going to commit suicide, what method would you choose?”), he is inundated by well-meaning but ineffective adults who want to “make sure he’s okay” and make sure he knows how “precious” his life is. But though he’s honest about how “not okay” Nader McMillion’s bullying is, no one intervenes, not even his parents, who are too caught up with their own inadequacies. His distant father spends more time at his restaurant than at home, and his mother spends all of her time swimming laps at the local pool, both ways of avoiding the unspoken problems in their family. Lucky thinks it’s better to pretend everything’s fine, too, since that’s what everyone seems to want him to do, even when Nader’s bullying escalates and Lucky begins seeing the ants, a tiny Greek chorus that follows him around commenting on his life. (The ants are great characters, by the way.)

The only place Lucky feels powerful is in his dreams, where he sees his grandfather, who went missing in Vietnam and whose body was never found. In his dreams, Lucky is strong, ruthless, and capable, running missions to rescue his grandfather from his jungle prison and bring him home. Lucky has set complicated booby traps, killed enemy soldiers, and watched his grandfather tortured, but even when they escape the prison, he never gets him all the way out of the jungle. Lucky is convinced that these dreams are real – he wakes from each one with a object from his dreams brought into reality – and he’s sure that bringing his grandfather home will fix everything.

The only way I can describe these dreams and they way they intersect with Lucky’s real life is to use the term magical realism (same with the ants, of course, who function as a manifestation of Lucky’s subconscious with hilarity and insight). The dreams are both real and not real, in which people and places from Lucky’s life appear as surreal cameos in his otherwise Vietnam-war-focused rescue missions. On the surface, it’s a place for Lucky to work out his issues, a metaphor for his life – feeling like a prisoner, feeling like a victim, feeling cut off and alone, with no rescue in sight – but it’s also so much more than that. King doesn’t shy away from the fact that these dreams might actually be real, or real enough to affect Lucky’s life in profound ways. His grandfather is often a voice of wisdom and stability for Lucky, someone who knows about life and can impart that knowledge. Several of Lucky’s rescue attempts are chronicled and each one plays out differently, leading him eventually to realizations about combating his own feelings of worthlessness, about understanding his parents, about the dehumanizing nature of violence, about what it means to be a victim and a hero, and how they’re not always what we think they are.

It’s clear early on that Lucky is not okay, despite what he says. His narrative is bitterly funny, sometimes angry and sometimes bewildered and hurt at how everyone overlooks Nader’s bullying, but otherwise he seems to take it in stride. He's just coasting along. That’s what he wants to think, and since he narrates from the first person, that’s how it seems, but there are hints that he’s keeping secrets, even from himself. Lucky keeps telling everyone he is not depressed, or suicidal – he’s fine, people – but one of the genius things King does here is undercut his assertions in subtle ways, with little moments that add up: behavior and thoughts that he presents as normal that we, the objective readers, can see are worrying if we’re paying attention, such as how Lucky physically and emotionally detaches from his bullying experiences as if they’re not really happening to him. What’s so ironic about this (and what makes this book so heartbreaking at times) is that Lucky is literally surrounded by adults who are suggesting medication, therapy, testing, and the like, but all he really needs is for someone to stand up for him: to take a moment out of their busy schedule of looking the other way and actually do something about Nader. And he’s not the only one suffering. His suicide surveys start coming back, placed anonymously in his locker, making it clear that there are more people struggling than just him.

This is a book about a bullied kid learning to recognize his own worth and stand up for himself and for the other voiceless victims (those who see the ants, who represent the secret voice in all of us that expresses what we’re afraid to), after all the adults in his life have failed him. It’s funny and meaningful and uplifting and laser-sharp in its portrayals of Lucky, his family, and several important side characters, including his aunt and uncle in Arizona (where Lucky’s mother takes him to avoid Nader), a girl at school with a bad reputation, and a beautiful teenage hair model that he meets in Arizona.

But what I really love about this book is how King’s portrayal of the adults in Lucky’s life – the ones who have failed to protect him, who have stopped trying, who have passed off responsibility for Lucky’s suffering like a game of hot potato – is as sensitive and complex as anything I’ve seen. This book is as much about the struggles of the adults as the kids: it’s about what it means to be an adult, with responsibilities you don’t know how to handle but are nonetheless yours, and what happens when you eschew those responsibilities. All of the adults have problems, too, and as Lucky matures (for lack of a better word – he grows in compassion and insight), he’s able to see them in a new way.

Early on in the book, Lucky complains about his emotionally distant father, who grew up without a dad – his father, Lucky’s grandfather from his dreams, went missing in Vietnam before he was born – and whose absence has haunted him his whole life. Lucky’s dad has told him not to fight back, but when it’s clear that’s not working, his dad says something that really resonated with me: he says something along the lines of, “I didn’t know how to deal with my own bullies when I was your age; how am I supposed to know how to deal with yours?” (Forgive me for not being able to find the exact quotation.) Lucky’s mother, too, doesn’t know what to do, given that she has trouble standing up for herself as it is; she wants his father to fix it, and she’s mad that he can’t.

His parents love Lucky and care what’s happening to him, but they don’t know what to do. They feel as powerless as he does, something he doesn’t really understand at first. They come off as indifferent, uninterested, but they aren’t – they’re scared of making it worse, of doing the wrong thing, of failing. And so they stopped trying, which is the worst thing they could ever do. Lucky’s aunt and uncle are similarly flawed and ultimately caring. But I like how King recognizes that being an adult doesn’t automatically mean you know how to fix everything for your kids, your students, your patrons (in my case), even though they sometimes think you are supposed to know.

The point is, everybody sees the ants. Everybody is a victim at some time. Everyone feels lost, and alone, and impotent, and afraid, so much so that they let those feelings get the better of them and turn away from someone else’s pain and pretend it’s not their fault, because what can they do, really? Ultimately, this is a book about taking responsibility, about trying to do the right thing, and about “making sure you’re not one of the assholes” (this is a paraphrase of a great conversation from the book).

As a final point, I know I'm making this book sound too serious, because I tend to overthink everything, but it's also funny and quirky and has a lot of light-hearted moments among the dramatic ones. Yes, it's weighty but it's not relentlessly sad. If anything, I'd say King knows how to create the perfect balance.

[Lala BooksandLala · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 out of 5. I don't think I can even express the way this book moved me.

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Everybody sees the ants?"
He looks at me and says, "Well, how many people do you think live perfect lives, son? Aren't we all victims of something at some time or another?"




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is my first novel I've read by A.S. King, and I can say with full confidence that this won't be my last. Everybody Sees the Ants is a coming of age-novel that is insanely cool, insanely funny, sad at times, and insane in all the best ways.

1) The Plot

Lucky, our main character, lives in Pennsylvania and just asked one stupid question. "If you were going to commit suicide, how would you do it?" He was only joking, but things quickly escalated. He lost friends and suffered from bullying. To get away, he and his mom go to Arizona. That's where the story picks up. It might sound a little sad, but I was like this throughout the book...



And then one time, I was like this...



I don't know what's wrong with my emotions. I used to be a seldom book cryer, but now it's like every book hits me with tears. I think I now have the emotional capacity of a 12 year old girl or a newborn baby.

2) The Writing

Her writing is AWESOME! She describes things so well that it feels like you're in the story. I think she just has a way with words.

3) The Characters

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE LUCKY!

I really love the mom and Ginny.

I am conflicted about Dave.



Nader ...



4) Overall Thoughts

I really liked it.

★★★★✩ 4/5

[Sarah Churchill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had heard a lot of hype about the book, but didn't really know what it was about beyond what a vague synopsis. So I went in fairly blind, which is how I like it, and I am now a BIG fan of this book.

It felt easy to read and follow, but at the same time almost every supporting character had their own story, so it's a woven web of philosophy and psychology. In the main this is a book about a boy (ironically called 'Lucky') who is tormented by a vile bully and haunted by the 'memory' of a grandfather he never met. The grandfather's absence since being captured during the Vietnam War has shrouded his family in uncertainty and unrest all of his life, and a promise to his grandmother on her deathbed has him going on daily rescue missions to the jungle in his sleep. These trips are metaphorical and filled with meaning, though Lucky doesn't realise it, but they're also a really interesting part of the story because he brings back actual objects to the 'real world'. So we've got a kind of paranormal element that's just accepted and not really questioned.

His parents, aunt and uncle, friends and classmates all have their own struggles, and that's why the main message I took from reading this is that life really is tough, but you have to stand up and face it. After all, 'everybody sees the ants'. (I won't explain that, because it's a black comedy metaphor that's just genius, so you'll have to read for yourself!)

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A.S. King has been popping up on my reading radar and to-read lists for a long time. I can’t believe I waited this long to hear her voice! Everybody Sees the Ants is a story with tough subjects, but one told with humor, imagination, and honesty. A voice, style and lesson I will never forget. A young man I will never forget.

Lucky Linderman is just trying to survive the battle of the high school halls. But a bully targeted him years before filling his days with fear and dread. Told in cuts and flashes of time, dreams, and imagination, readers piece together a quiet, but brutal story of bullying. A story that will break your heart, make your blood boil, and shake your head in shock and shame.

Lucky, Lucky, Lucky. I just wanted to put him in my pocket for safe keeping. He was strong, funny, and adorable. A character you root for from beginning to end. Even though the bullying has plagued Lucky since the age of seven, his voice and courage still rang so loud and true. He made me so proud—whether he was in the kitchen taking charge, at the pool, or out slinking around with a ninja. Again and again he stood up and spoke when no else would. But you have to wonder how long he could go on like that with no one standing up for him or with him. Every time he turned to someone for support and help, he got shoved down harder or turned away with a “What do you want me to do?” shrug. So in came the ants!

I’m not going to say too much more about the plot. This was one of those books I walked into knowing very little about and feel like saying more would spoil the tale. I will say that all of these characters felt unique and special, but at the same time so realistic. Every voice left a mark on the page and my heart with quirky humor and sadness. Lucky’s parents especially hit me hard. Their helplessness and frustration of not knowing what to do pissed me off and broke my heart. But their struggle--Lucky and his parents--showed the toll a bully can take on a whole family. The brutal actions of one bully can ripple through friends, family, and a community. Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away. A sad, frustrating story that needs to be told. Bullying has been the big topic in young adult novels lately, but Ms. King tells it like no one else.

Jump in and follow the ants. We all have them, see them, and feel them in one form or another. Fear and insecurities eat away and poke at all of us. But how do we cope? How do we survive the pain, humiliation, and assholes in life? Stand up. Listen. Talk. Support. Take control. All much easier said than done—I know. But maybe Lucky’s story will inspire readers to do all of that and more.

”I didn’t say you had to forget it. Never forget it. But stop living there. Live here, in the present. Think forward to your future.”

[Eric Novello]

Feels. "O mundo está cheio de babacas. O que você está fazendo para ter certeza de que não é um deles?"
Em 2016 descobri A.S. King. Me pediram para traduzir "Glory O'Brien's History of the Future", que é um dos livros mais interessantes que eu já li dentro de Y.A. Então eu estava com expectativa alta para "Todo Mundo Vê Formigas".

Esse livro trata de vários assuntos, mas um deles é central para a personalidade do protagonista, um menino chamado Lucky que não se sente nem um pouco sortudo. Lucky sofre bullying violento. Não só no sentido físico, mas no psicológico. Sofre desde pequeno, vítima do mesmo valentão. Seus pais, infelizmente, não são do tipo que vão lá e resolvem as coisas, então Lucky se torna uma vítima sistemática do cara. Essa violência vai deixando cicatrizes, mas Lucky tenta tocar a vida.

Assim, o livro explora esse tocar a vida. Os problemas que ele sofre na escola, como é lidar com mais que são meio desconectados do que acontece com ele, como é estar cheio de hormônios querendo dar seu primeiro beijo e ao mesmo tempo se sentindo um merda por não conseguir reagir às agressões.

De início, acho que por estar com o "History of the Future" na cabeça, não estava curtindo muito. Mas de repente entrei no clima. Apesar dos temas pesados - o primeiro parágrafo tem a ver com uma pesquisa sobre suicídio - o livro começa bem tranquilo, meio bobo até. Mas a A.S. King sabe como pesar a mão, e isso vai acontecendo gradualmente, a partir do segundo ato. Conforme a história foi ficando mais densa emocionalmente, fui me envolvendo bastante e acabei curtindo muito a história, ficando com os olhos cheios d'água no capítulo final. Coisa que não acontece muito comigo.

Algo que gosto muito da A.S. King é que suas histórias tem um toque fantástico. Não como fantasia, quase um realismo mágico. Isso não afeta em nada o desenrolar da história, mas ao mesmo tempo faz toda a diferença.

No caso de Todo Mundo Vê Formigas, Lucky sonha e consegue conversar com o avô que desapareceu na Guerra do Vietnã. Esse desaparecimento é um peso na história da família, principalmente na do pai meio banana. Ao sonhar com o avô, Lucky reflete o que se passa na sua vida "real", o bullying, as garotas, a necessidade de "escapar", coisa que o avô nunca conseguiu.

A única coisa que acho que ficou sobrando na história, curiosamente, são as tais das formigas. Desnecessárias. Se não fosse pelo título, teriam sido mero detalhe.

Enfim, é um livro muito bom e mexeu bastante comigo na metade final. Tem esse começo lento, mas logo se ajeita e cresce muito. Fica de recomendação. Cuidado, porém, com os momentos triggering sobre bullying, assédio e suicídio. Se são temas sensíveis para você, talvez valha esperar um pouco mais para fazer a leitura.

[Muhammad Ahmed Siddiqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 SURPRISING STARS

This book started as a casual read for humor and it suddenly changed into a completely different experience.
It was there on my to-read shelf for so long and I regret that I delayed reading it and you guys should not delay.

A quote from the book on how we can tackle our problems:

“The simplest answer is to act.”

This book deals with topics like:

- Bullying
- Abuse
- Impact on the family of dead soldiers after war

The topics of this book are difficult to discuss for any author but this book explained such a difficult problem in such a unique way that you will remember it and you will enjoy because sometimes these kind of books can be really sad and you can lost interest but didn't happen here. It was unputdownable for me.

POSITIVES:

- Fast paced
- Good plot
- Great storytelling
- Awesome humor

NEGATIVES:

- It finished too early :)

A great quote I found in this book:

“Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.” ― Robert F. Kennedy

[Barry Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first foray in YA in two and a half years. And I enjoyed it! I read this on personal recommendation from Ariel Bissett so thank you dearie! I enjoyed the plot, the characters, and it's written in very simple/basic prose. There were some points at which it kept reminding me that it was a YA novel (instant romances for instance) but they weren't so common to put me off. This is a nice, light, and very quick read. Am I a YA convert? No of course not calm down. But I might venture into the genre more often than I did before.

[Mickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

***EDIT***
This is how much I love this book. I read it and immediately sat it on my 16yr old son's bed. In our house this means: Read this, you'll like it. He said... "ehhhh...I would read that IF you made me a paper craft of My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic character, Rainbow Dash." Oh, did he think that was clever. I spent two hours cutting tiny rainbow pony legs out and trying to convince a glue stick that it should do my bidding. But I made the damn horse and he is reading the damn book. You can read on to my "review", but that is the true testament to my love for this book......




A.S. King has done it again. Without pandering or resorting to cliche, King has held yet another mirror to the face of princes--or rather adults and has asked them, "Who is minding the shop?" Or rather--to quote the book: "The world is full of assholes. What are you doing to make sure you don't become one."

King's book argues that we are all in the boat of life together and the seas are getting rougher by the minute. Hand in hand we must look for the truth together. Parenting is a partnership...and the best defense we have against a lack of love and a culture of apathy toward the rising dark water.

[Wayne Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I liked this book so much that I am immediately going to browse A,S. King's other books and pick more to read. For me, this was reminiscent of Donna Tart's 'Goldfinch' but without the 300 pages of dead space.
"The world is full of assholes. What are you going to do to make sure you are not one of them?"
This story, surrounding a young man names Lucky, is a tale of bullying...but so much more. I read this from beginning to end in a 24 hour span and closed the last page with glassy eyes.
I imagine that all of us have at some time experienced being bullied or at least know someone who has. Reminiscing, as I read this, I realized that even as a man in my fifty's, I still have images of bad things that happened all the way back to my school years. It is amazing how critical that time is in our lives and what kind of scaring impact it can leave on the rest of our lives.
Everybody Sees The Ants was humorous at times and extremely deep at others. It was easy to read, well written, and even though this is listed under 'Young Adults' under some bookshelves, I think this is a novel for anyone of any age.
I highly recommend this novel to anyone who favors any genre. It is going on my 'Five Star Favorite' shelf!

[Jacob McCabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for many reasons. I'm a fan of the main character, Lucky, and his struggles. The book heavily focuses on bullying in a relatively realistic way, which is often disconcerting, because books/movies usually portray bullying in an exaggerated way. A.S. King made me feel like I was Lucky, and boy, do I know some Naders in my life.

My main problem with the book, which is the reason I docked a star, is because I felt disconnected from both the writing and the direction of the story. While the writing and themes were smart, the writing style itself was quite dull and, frankly, unoriginal. I never really knew where the book was going, and the sentence structures were mediocre, so I was usually bored while reading it. That being said, I really like this book and plan to read another book from King in the future.

If I can derive a point from reading this book, or any contemporary book, I call it a success.

[mich · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

I've only read one other book by King - Please Ignore Vera Dietz - and it was a very similar experience for me as this one. Both stories contained an odd mixture of humor, extremely fucked up shit, and a weird surreal strangeness that, for me, just works.

[sol✯ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 🌟
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i don't even know what the fuck I just read but I know that I had a good ass time reading it.
also, this isn't really contemporary it's definitely a little fantastical so if contemporary with a dash of weirdness ain't your thing i wouldn't recommend but if it is READ THIS. also if you like A.S. king's other work you are probably going to enjoy this (this is coming from someone who has only read Dig and Everybody Sees the ants so take my recommendation with a grain of salt)

SO, WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT?
Lucky Linderman is a victim of intense bullying from a boy named Nader McMillian. Lucky feels out of control in his own life with his turtle of a father and his squid of a mother who never seem to be quite there. But in his dreams, he travels to the war struck jungle of Laos where he meets his grandfather Harry who never came home from the Vietnam War. In his dreams, he feels in control and strong while he struggles to save his grandfather from the jungle while in real life he struggles to stand up for himself and others. As Lucky grows he learns how to look at life and the shit it gives and to smile and laugh and love and grow anyway.

this book was great. It talked about feminism and vaginas and bullying and growing up. Lucky is such a stark representation of a teenage boy that it is honestly shocking that this wasn't written by a teenage boy. I think if i read this before Dig - A.S. King's latest novel- it would have been a 5 star but after the masterpiece that was Dig, I don't know if anything can compare for me.

I loved this and ultimately this was a story about growth and acceptance and life and being a fucking teenager. I related to Lucky despite our difference and have found a lot to take away from this novel years after its publication date. The discussions of sexual assault and the treatment of women are still extremely valid. and if you need any more convincing to read this I just want to let you know that there is a play put on by some of Lucky's found female friends called "The Vagina Monologues" and it was fucking brilliant.

tw: excessive/ intense bullying, physical assault, parental abuse, discussions surrounding war and killing, cheating, abuse of pills, discussions surrounding suicide, discussions surrounding sexual abuse, child neglect

(if i missed any trigger warnings please feel free to tell me in the comments! I want to make sure that anyone who is hesitant to access possibly triggering content is well aware before entering a novel.)

HAVE A GREAT DAY!! 😁😋

[Marta Álvarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Tiene un ritmo algo fragmentado, y un puntito de realismo mágico del que creo que no he terminado de entender todo el significado. Pero tiene un protagonista muy bien definido, y aunque creo que ganaría si también se diera voz a otros personajes, lo cierto es que todos adquieren profundidad gracias al reflejo de su relación con Lucky.
Creo que dentro del realismo de una mala situación, consigue dar un mensaje optimista.

[Maximiliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

VIDEO RESEÑA EN MI CANAL DE YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgpJq...

[Aaron Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was challenged to finish a YA novel in basically 24 hours, I selected A.S. King's Everybody Sees The Ants. Seeing its page count at 280 pages, I thought it will be quick and easy but because the universe loves to kick you in the nuts with irony, it turned out to be the opposite. It's a very difficult book to read and even harder to write a review about. It hit a little too close to home.

Everybody Sees The Ants is about a boy named Lucky who is dealing with some not particularly fortunate circumstances. His family is falling apart. His dad has emotionally checked out and his mom religiously swims as a form of escapism. He also made a promise to fulfill his grandma's dying wish to find his granda who has been missing since the Vietnam War. On top of all these things, he is being bullied.

This novel could have easily fallen into the trap of becoming an Issue Book wherein the morality themes takes the spotlight while the characters were severely compromised and falls flat. A.S. King deflty handles the issues and themes while telling an engaging story with characters that feels genuine. Sure, there are some side characters that feels a little too antagonistic bordering on caricature but the characters that were supposed to work really worked. In this story, to quote a favorite R.E.M. song that is alsso very fitting for this book, everybody hurts. All of them has their own kind of pain they have to deal with and overcome, even -- especially the adults. It didn't feel weepy. It comes across as real that I ended up rooting for them to be okay. Especially with Lucky.


It may sound unbelievable and hard to imagine for people that personally knows me, but I had been a Lucky. I had been that scrawny kid who was constantly being bullied by someone in school. It wasn't exactly a Ohio-shaped wound on the cheek but a long cut on the forearm made by a sharp scissor. I haven't told anyone or written about it since grade school. You can qualify it as something that had been storedin the deepest and most unlit part of my memory. Lucky's story not only brought the memory forward but it took me back there. I'm very fortunate that I had a very solid support from my parents back then but I can just imagine how scary and hurtful it was for him, family falling apart and all. He's definitely braver, though. Not only did he deal with his anxieties but he also stood his ground against his bully. I waited for the intervention of my parents and the guidance counselor, and when graduatiom came I promised myself that I would never let it happen to me again.

Did I, Lucky or any kid out there need to be bullied to be "stronger"? I've been joked to be a bully by my peers now. I don't intentionally hurt people but I know that I can be very demanding and sometimes I can be very persistent and strongarm people to do something I want them to do. Is this some sort of overcompensation for what happened? Did I do the "never again" thing a little too much? I don't know. Like the adults in this book, I don't have the answers to all the questions. At least not yet. I dislike second-guessing myself but I'll figure it out.

[Suad Shamma · Rating 2 out of 5]

I first bought Everybody Sees the Ants because it had such great reviews and an even better synopsis.

A boy that retreats into his dreams to escape reality, and finds himself in war-ridden jungles? A place where he can be anyone he wants to be, a better version of himself even? A place where it becomes so easy to submerge yourself into, rather than live your life? How awesome does that sound? I thought for sure this book is going to be worth the read.

Sadly, it wasn't.

Yes, as many reviewers have stated, this book deals with a lot of important topics such as abuse, bullying, sexual harassment, feminism etc. that readers may find interesting and appealing. But just because a book deals with such issues does not a good story make.

Here's what you need to know about our protagonist Lucky, who, as it happens, is anything but. His dad is what he calls a 'turtle' due to the fact that he hides in his shell and has no backbone, and his mom is a 'squid' due to her obsession with swimming laps to escape her life.

Lucky makes the mistake of asking the students at his school if they were to commit suicide, what their method would be for his course project. This one question makes everyone think he needs help as he must be prone to suicide. Lucky's life takes a turn to the worse as Nader McMillan (the school bully...no scratch that, the town bully) makes his life completely unbearable to the point where his mom packs their bags and decides they need to leave town for a little while.

In those dreams Lucky escapes to, he meets up with his grandad who has been MIA since 1972. He believes that it is his mission to save his grandad and bring him back home.

This book had many great themes, but the writing and the plot just didn't do it for me. The plot seems too weak, there are many things that go unexplained, and near the end it all seems very rushed as if A.S. King ran out of ideas and needed to wrap it up. I also never understood how a boy at high school terrorized an entire town and was able to get away with bullying and sexually harassing kids for as long as he did.

All in all, a fair book, but I don't think I'd be recommending it to anyone.

Finally, if I was a man born in 1951 I would have been the 25th person to be called in to report for induction into the military. That's as unlucky as it gets.

[Syndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

usually the YA novels i read discuss about bullying and growing up in much more melancholic and heart breaking way. example: before i fall, the last time we say goodbye

this one is hilarious. its still discussing about bullying and family. but in cynical way. i love the ants. wish i have those ants in my head talking to each other.

it is very enjoyable book to read.

[Ellen Hopkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deserving of its many honors. Amy King is a writers' writer.

[Cassi Haggard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always appreciate books that contain intelligent discussion about depression. So often that conversation is trite, trivial and about how you can fix your life if you just do a, b, and c. Then it's always the goth or the emo kid who's depressed, never the smart or pretty people. Depression doesn't happen to them!

Except that it can happen to anyone.

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King doesn't talk down to people struggling with depression or bullying. It takes more of a conversational tone. This book is an "issue" book without being an "issue" book in the traditional sense. It deals with bullying, depression and suicidal thoughts. But it does it in a cool, creative way that I've come to expect from A.S. King.

CHARLOTTE: Nah. I'm fine. Everyone thinks about this shit, don't they?
GRANDDAD: I have.
ME: Me too.
CHARLOTTE: But I'd never do it.

I've never read a passage about depression that felt more true. Because yes I've felt that too and I've said that. Last year when my grandfather died and my longterm boyfriend proved he wasn't up to snuff, I was right their with those characters feeling like life sucked. Feeling like I wasn't sure if it's worth it. (I should note that I was really close to my Papaw. And spoiler alert: It is worth it, eventually).

This book isn't told in a straight linear narrative. It's told from the perspective of what happened at school, then his summer vacation in Arizona, then the dreams where he visits his missing grandfather in a Vietnam POW camp. Switching between the perspectives keeps the dark subject matter from weighing down the novel but also shows Lucky's internalization of his problems. In his dreams is where he works through the bullying, the depression and his loneliness. His MIA grandfather is his best friend and the person he can talk to about everything.

The adults in this novel are just as disastrous at the teens. At times I just want to yell at them, but it adds to the realism of the story. Often adults just don't get bullying. (Read this article about how even the terminology we use is often wrong: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/opi... ). This novel shows how the inaction of adults allows bullies to reign. Sometimes parents even create the bullying situation by justifying their kids actions or being bullies themselves. This novel is very aware that bullying doesn't just die with high school but is something adults deal with it too.

If you would've told me that I'd like a book about bullying this much I wouldn't have believed you. But AS King has a very stylish, fun and honest way of tackling the difficult subjects. "Issue" books don't have to be straightforward because life is not straightforward. This is a book that anyone can read about bullying without feeling like it's a trite treatise on the evils of high school. I think it's an important and relevant subject matter that's handled in the way that's somehow quirky and fun even while talking about serious subjects like depression, bullying and suicide. Don't believe me? Then read the book for yourself.

Even though it's not published yet I'm really glad I read this during banned book week. This is often the type of book that gets banned yet teens need to read books like this.

[Cori Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I definitely think the writing in this book hasn't aged well, but I really enjoyed Lucky's story.

[Andrewfink · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can barely sit still I'm so excited to see wether Lucky will save his Grandpa from the jungles; even save himself from the wrath of Nader McMillan. I feel very close to Lucky, as if he's my best friend and has been for many years. I can't stand his aunt. The book has had awesome character development.

After reading the book review:
Oh sigh. Tears are streaming down my face. After reading halfway through the book I thought it was good, I couldn't wait too see what would happen to Lucky. I was more than pleased with the last half of the book. When Lucky and his mom moved to Arizona it added a whole new feeling, and excitement to the book. When Lucky met Ginny it was amazing, one of my favorite parts of the story was watching Ginny and Lucky interact. I would love to meet Ginny, she sounds PERFECT <3. Ginny was also a strong person, she had so much wisdom for only being a teenager. While I was reading the last couple chapters of this book I was ecstatic. Lucky was growing into such a strong person right in front of me. Although not just Lucky, the whole family. His mom is now an "Octopus" who can breath out of water. His dad is now slipping out of his turtle shell. At the pool back home, Lucky stood up to his childhood fear, Nadar! He stood up to Nadar in a Lucky kind of way, a bit nerdy and goofy, but either way you look at it he stood up to the bully and in a way scared him. I got too meet the author of this book which gave me a cool sense of where she was coming from. This book started off a bit slow but picked up speed like a racecar. Rock on Lucky Linderman!

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A social studies assignment of creating a survey question and evaluating the data has Lucky excited for the easy A he’s sure to receive. His question: “If you were going to commit suicide, what method would you choose?” is viewed quite differently by the school administration. They want Lucky evaluated to make sure he isn’t a danger to himself or others.

I went in to this book with no expectations and was very pleasantly surprised. I’m always impressed when a writer can create such a realistic character of the opposite sex (especially when said character is also going through the turmoil of puberty). Lucky was such a likeable young man with a dry sense of humor that really came across the page. He also left me blubbering like a huge baby at one point. I agree with King that everybody sees the ants and I don’t even use the stupid shampoo either. I’ll be checking out more of her work in the near future.

[Bruna Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A.S. King e seu realismo fantástico <3 Não acostumada com o gênero, ainda fico um pouco confusa com os elementos surreais na história, mas tudo se conecta. Everybody Sees the Ants é uma história sobre bullying, acima de tudo; o Lucky não é um personagem muito aberto e como ele fala sobre as coisas realmente pode fingir que não é grande coisa, mas é. Muito.
Até certo ponto da história eu achei que tava okay, nada demais... e aí um detalhe é revelado e eu fiquei: WOW. É muito fácil a gente conhecer alguém por cima e ter a ilusão de que essa pessoa só aparenta estar bem e quantas camadas de experiência, sentimentos e sofrimento tem por baixo.

Não é um dos meus favoritos da autora (esse é o 4º livro dela que leio), mas vale a pena principalmente se você procura algo que mostre como o bullying afeta a vítima e as pessoas conectadas à ela e como, muitas vezes, ele é ignorado por "conveniência".

[Neil Franz · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one can pee on your soul without your permission.

[Masooma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everybody Can See The Ants is a brilliant read. It is intriguing and captivating. For me, the novel was a recommendation thoroughly enjoyed.

The writing is incredible. From the first page onwards, it engaged me straight into the story. For a very heavy subject matter, A S King chose the lightest style and the finest words to deliver it. Just when I was thinking that the tragedy wasn't big enough, he unveiled the biggest deal, in a simple way which left me totally surprised.

Lucky Linderman is the shortest guy in school and picked on round the clock. He is a coward outside but a hero in his dreams. What made him so special is that after all the torture, he undergoes, he stands strong and brave. His narrative isn't laced with darkness but simple facts like he isn't interested in suicide yet the adults keep thinking things, fair enough! That is how it is in real life where people think you're entertaining suicidal thoughts when you simply aren't.

His dad is definitely a turtle for being such a yellow-belly and standing still through the swampy crisis of his life, allowing it to suck him in and letting Lucky face the consequences. But the turtle did make some really mouth watering dishes, at least he was of some use!
Even though Lucky's mum is a squid, practically living in the swimming pool, she is a character I admired for being smart and having unwavering confidence in Lucky.

Aunt Jodi is a cracked woman, the sort of typical elder who neither is satisfied with a child frowning nor with his smiling. Uncle Dave is okay but just as suddenly there is a good amount of concentration on the character, the same way that attention is gone all at once.

Ginny is ridiculous. Every time she appeared, I wanted to fast forward through the scene. The way she became friends with Lucky, in a jiffy, without any rhyme or reason, was absolutely absurd. And the first and last thing, you need to know about Nader McMillan is that he is a douchebag through and through.

The Vietnam War details added to the worth of the book. Despite the fact that Lucky's dreams are funny yet I didn't like him ending up with real objects in the end of his dreams. It did not make much sense, no such explanation was given about it as well. Whereas, the ants are superb! They make the most appropriate and most hilarious comments every time.

All in all, it's a very good novel *the ants are all applauding in appreciation*