This was a middle grade exploration of a "what if" scenario, specifically: What if you could write out of your life anything you wanted? Who and what would you write out? And would you ever want to write them back in?
That's exactly what 12-year-old Mickey does. He gets a coupon for a journal in a package of bubble gum, just about the only thing he enjoys any more. He hates his dog, his big sister Angie, her bullying 17-year-old boyfriend, his parents, and pretty much everyone at school.
The Anti-Book promises to erase everything he writes down.
Boy, does he write. And he keeps writing.
When he next wakes up, very little is left. Some desert cactus where his house once stood, which he promptly writes out.
But as you may guess, Mickey wants everyone to disappear precisely because he does care about them -- what they think of him, how they treat him. And when his house reappears as an annoying-but-talking fly, and his sister in super-small MCU Ant-Man form, he begins to realize he wants them back. All of them.
A shadow -- non-corporeal, but confident, witty, everything Mickey has ever wanted to be -- appears and makes friends with Mickey. It promises the King, the bubble gum King, will grant Mickey whatever he wants. Mickey just has to navigate the anti-world to get there.
But the shadow, despite his cool veneer, shouldn't be trusted and has a nefarious plan in mind for Mickey -- one very close to Mickey's heart.
The book was kinda hard to get into. It has a rocky start, as Mickey's not an altogether likeable or even relatable character. But kids get angry at those they love, for lots of reasons, and they all handle it in different ways. I really felt like as the book progressed it got much better. Mickey becomes a more relatable character, and this was a fantastic exploration of what happens when you write out -- or push away -- everyone in your life. Both the anger and the urge were feelings I felt many young readers may connect with.
