We Are The Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson (2016)

No one believed that Henry Denton was getting abducted by aliens. Except for Jesse, Henry’s boyfriend. Then, Jesse committed suicide, and Henry’s whole world fell apart. Not only did he lose his boyfriend, he lost the best friend they shared, and without the protection of Jesse, school is brutal. And the aliens keep taking him. During was of his abductions, they share a secret with him: the world is going to end, and he can stop it. All he has to do is press the big button, and the world will stay safe. He has until the end of January to do it. Whenever he asks what other people what they would do, hypothetically, they always say the obvious answer, that they would press the button. Especially Diego, the new kid who won’t leave Henry alone, and who Henry’s not sure he wants to be apart from. But pressing the button isn’t so easy, and until he decides to do so, Henry’s got the literal weight of the world on his shoulders.

I have never read a book by Shaun David Hutchinson, even though he has quite a few out. I have been eyeing We Are The Ants for quite awhile, but haven’t gotten to it until now, and it’s definitely one of my favorite releases of the year. One of the main reasons was the concept itself. A huge YA trope for the last decade or so has been having a so called “chosen” teen that saves everyone in the face of horrific situation. This all started with Harry Potter, which, I know, started more than a decade ago, but it’s become really popular in the last few years. These teenagers are expected to kick into gear and save the world, but you and I know that’s not really what would happen. This was a story that was looking at a “chosen one” who didn’t know what to do, and also was still going through regular hum situations besides the one that was forced onto him. In that way, it reminded me a lot of Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith.

I bet you thought I could go one review without mentioning Andrew Smith. Well, you’re wrong, and I’m going to talk about him some more. To start off, let’s talk about the way this book was written, something I loved. There was a lot of cut and dry humor, which would be the only kind of humor that made sense with this story, since a lot of it was pretty dark. There was also some zooming out from the story, looking at what else was happening in the world, or rather, all the possibilities of what could happen in the world. And, while We Are The Ants sounds like a science fiction story, it’s really a contemporary. So many topics are talked about, most of them things you wouldn’t expect like pregnancy and domestic abuse and sibling relationships. All of these factors reminded me of how Andrew Smith writes, so that’s obviously a good thing. In no way am I saying one copied the other, but that they both have a way of writing that I really like. Plus, there was a Dr. Andrew Smith in the story who was responsible for accidently enlarging cockroaches to human size, which was so cool.

Another aspect that I really liked was the characters. In a way, there were no minor characters. Every character had an important story to be told, and were a value to the story. My favorite character was not Henry, our “main” character (even though I loved him), but was Diego. First of all, I love a boy who isn’t afraid of his feelings, and can be emotional, something Diego portrayed. I also loved how fierce a protector he was of the ones he loved. Still, I can’t help but think that Diego was suffering from a mental illness, even though it wasn’t something discussed in the book. Another character I thought was important was Marcus, Henry’s secret boyfriend. Don’t get me wrong, he was a terrible person, but he did show that there are severe consequences for being caged in socially and emotionally.

We Are The Ants was a spectacular surprise, and one I’ll probably read many more times through the years. I can’t recommend it enough!

5 Stars