We Are the Ants (451 Pages)

This is NOT the kind of book I would usually choose to read. However, I became really interested in the characters, and I am particularly drawn to character driven books! Henry Denton's family is struggling. His dad left - Henry thinks it was because of himself. His grandmother is slipping away from Alzheimer's. His brother (who constantly picks on him) has dropped out of college and has a pregnant girlfriend. Henry's mom is trying to cope with family expenses as she chain smokes her way to the grave. She is a talented cook, but gave up cooking and became a waitress after Henry's dad left. AND....to top it all off, Henry has been abducted by aliens. Thanks to his brother, students at his school call him Space Boy as they bully him. These aliens have communicated that Henry has 144 days to keep the world from ending.There is a red button, and he needs to decide whether or not the world is worth saving. Woven throughout is Henry's coming to terms with his own sexuality. With all of this information, I still enjoyed this book and cared for what happens to this family!