Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King

King A.S. (October, 2011).Everybody Sees the Ants. Little, Brown Book for Young Readers. New York , NY.

This is a story of a fifteen year old boy name Lucky who is being bullied by Nader. He not only torments him physically but mentally. But Lucky has two parents who are very combative and he does not want to tell them of his situation at school. He finds a way of escape from his troubles is in his dreams where he meets his grandfather living in Vietnam as a solider and tries to help him survive the war. But soon enough his life changes when his mother goes to live with her brother for three weeks. His uncle Dave at Arizona trains Lucky in how to pick up weights and fight bullies. Lucky also comes to meet a seventeen girl name Ginny who gives Lucky his first kiss. Ginny’s parents run a hair business and use her to model and advertise his hair merchandise. Soon Ginny is badly abuse by her parents when she shaves off her entire hair and runs to Lucky for help. Upon returning back to Pennsylvania his parents become a family again and his mother comes to confront Nader and almost gets him fired from his job. Lucky gets to challenge Nader in which he tells him if he touches him again he will called the police and press charges. Lucky has one last dream about his grandfather who gives him a wedding ring to give to and lastly he buries his grandfather, to give to his mother. Lucky is also determine to get Lara Jones as his girlfriend. The novel ends with Lucky about to disclose his dreams when he wakes up with the ring in his hand. This book is good for high school teens because it deals with issues such as bullies, adultery, child abuse and sex. 

It is a book about second chances. It is funny and deals with death and the meaning of life.







In Teachers pay Teachers you can find activities that can go with this book;

Vietnam War Station Activity

This great lesson for the Vietnam War has students rotation through stations to learn about various aspects of the war. 

The 7 stations cover:

1. The Cu Chi Tunnels
2. Vietcong Booby Traps
3. Agent Orange
4. Ho Chi Minh
5. Songs of the Vietnam War
6. The Draft and Protests
7. Military Deaths in the War

Each station engages different intelligences and learning styles. Students create a graph, listen to music, draw pictures, read, answer questions,and analyze pictures. My students are always engaged throughout this lesson as they move through the stations.

This works well for groups and individual students in either a World or American History class and can be differentiated for high or lower achieving students.