The Ants Go Marching

At first I was put off by the language and masturbation jokes that fill the first few pages of We Are the Ants. Not because of the subject or the words but because I thought "this is approach has been done to death," thinking of Grasshopper Jungle and Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian.
But I read some reviews and I kept on reading and I am so thankful that I did. The book ended up being so much more than that and as I wrote this, I can't tell you with any certainly if there was any more swearing and/or masturbation stories. I actually would wager that there wasn't, but I wouldn't bet my life on it, but yeah, I would ante up some cash.
Thing is, I got sucked right into the story because there is A LOT in this story.
Here is the question that faces our hero: if you could press a button and save the world from destruction, would you do it?
So many issues arise in this book and it is so real-life. I mean, I hope there aren't too many teens who are dealing with: a loved one's dementia and decisions surrounding her care, a long-absent father, a boyfriend who committed suicide, a still-born baby, bullying, rape, depression and alien abduction all at once.
There are adults who deal with all of that at once, yes, I know for sure, but a 16 year old? I hope not too many.
Still because I sadly do know people who have had these kinds of troubles and more heaped upon them at once (okay-not the alien one) the book is completely real-life believable.
Is this Printz-worthy? In my humble opinion, I definitely think so.

I said it many times before and I will say it again.

My Life as a...is NOT a Diary of a Wimpy Kid retread.  I don't know if anyone but me has ever thought that, but when I first saw one of the books for the first time I thought it was just going to be one. But from the very first one, which was actually the second one, I was hooked.  My Life as a Joke is just as good as that one and Derek Fallon is just as awesome.  And I can't wait for the next one.
The thing about My Life as...as I have said before, is that they have a serious side and take on real-life issues.
Great, great books from a very talented mother and son.

Half a Chance

is better than no chance at all.  That's not the phrase that is used in the book Half a Chance, but it is true.  The phrase in the book is, "Even half a chance beats none."
Anyway, that reminds me of the interview with an author that is on the end of of the audiobook of Bridge to Terabithia.  Katherine Paterson and her son David Paterson are interviewed and KP talks about how the reader really makes the book come alive.  Both KP and DP recall that many fans of the book have remembered the events in the story quite differently, made the story their own.  And they speculate that maybe that is why Bridge to Terabithia has had such staying power.  I was thinking about my dear friend Joanie when I heard the KP and the DP interview.  September will soon be upon us.  And September, to me, is the cruelest month.  This has nothing at all to do with Half a Chance.  Once I again, I just went completely off track. But since I am so far off track, I did include the Katherine Paterson and Lobster picture again!
So Half a Chance is by Cynthia Lord, author of Rules.  I gave five stars to Half a Chance, much better than what I gave to Rules, which was just three.  Rules was a Newbery Honor in 2007.  It seems odd to me that Rules would get an Honor and the excellent Road to Paris wouldn't get one.   While I have never read Hattie Big Sky, another book that got an Honor, instead of Road to Paris, I have to say that the Girl in a Sod House Guarantees Newbery Love Rule might have been at play here again.
Ahem.  
Sorry.  Half a Chance has nothing to do with sod houses, either!  This book is quite good and quite real and I wouldn't complain if it got an Honor this year, as long as Brown Girl Dreaming takes it all or at LEAST gets an Honor as well.