THE ANTI-BOOK

An unexpected source of advice helps a boy fix his life.

Mickey hates everything—the pointy cactuses all over his town, school, his sister’s bully of a boyfriend, the new woman his dad is marrying, and the new woman his mom is going to marry. One of the only things he doesn’t hate is bubble gum, especially the Bubble Gum King brand. When he finds a prize inside, a coupon for something called an Anti-Book for people who are anti-everything, Mickey decides to play along. He discovers that everything he writes into the book disappears, only to come back as the opposite version of itself. Aided by a helpful flyhouse (after he erases a housefly), Mickey has to navigate this terrifying new world to get his old life back—if he wants to, of course. Lively interstitial illustrations show the White tween in both realistic and fantastical settings. This madcap story sympathetically shows why a kid might become an impossible grouch after feeling like his family life is out of control and being targeted for homophobia (despite having a clunkily depicted yet positive support network, including a queer mom whose sexuality isn’t positioned as an issue). Short sentences and a fast-moving plot will especially appeal to reluctant readers.

A bubble-gum story disguising some real substance.