We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

Henry makes a new friend at school, a new kid named Diego. Henry starts questioning his secret relationship with Marcus as Marcus’s bullying escalates. He starts isolating himself at school and fails classes. Henry’s resentment toward Marcus, his loneliness, his guilt over his father’s abandonment and Jesse’s suicide, and the tension in his family force Henry into a depression. Henry starts hooking up with Marcus, a popular boy at school who bullies him in public but has sex with him in private. Henry figures that if he doesn’t let the Earth be destroyed, other threats, such as nuclear warfare, robots, and meteors, might just destroy the Earth anyway. Henry’s constant abuse, loneliness, and pessimism make him believe that the world is better off destroyed. They give him a choice to save the planet by simply pressing a button. Now Henry is presented with a new problem: The aliens, which he calls “the sluggers,” show him images of the Earth’s destruction. Henry’s boyfriend, Jesse, killed himself the year before. His brother Charlie has dropped out of community college and gotten his girlfriend pregnant Henry and Charlie have a fractured relationship. His grandmother lives with them but is steadily growing more senile. Henry’s mother works shifts as a waitress, keeping her out of the house. Henry’s stories of abductions, which he no longer shares, are used as fodder for mockery and cruelty at school. He’s been the victim of alien abductions for years, warping his sense of the world and causing his father to leave the family.

Henry is a junior in high school who is enduring several problems. Hutchinson is the author of 11 pieces of YA fiction.Ĭontent Warning: This guide includes depictions of death by suicide, self-harm, depression, bullying, rape, and other forms of violence. We Are the Ants won critical acclaim by ALA, NYPL Best Books, and the Nutmeg Children’s Book Award, among other nominations and awards. Published in 2016, Hutchinson’s novel questions the value of human life while incorporating science fiction elements to portray the smallness of human existence in the face of our vast universe.

We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson