Great! ( )

Ava is a worrier, and her anxiety keeps her from doing things like the Adventure Ropes Course field trip and jazz band tryouts - usually. But when Ava and her best friend Sophie discover that a pencil from Ava's family's junk drawer can give them answers to almost any question they write, Ava finds that the answers to her questions only create more questions - and now she has even bigger worries, like her Grandpa's health, and what's wrong with Gram, and whether her parents will get a divorce, and more. Finally, Ava has to face her smaller fears in order to address her bigger ones, and her family tackles some problems together. The magic pencil has a surprising reveal of its own, as well.

Quotes

So much was out of your hands, and if you were a worrying kind of person, that just made you worry more. (61)

Maybe Sophie was upset but not mad. Sometimes, Ava couldn't tell the difference. She just assumed that whenever anybody wasn't happy, it was her fault. (133)

Certain kinds of information just made you worried and sad....Sometimes, it was better not to know. (212)

"When I was a reference librarian, it was my job to help people find answers to questions when answers were available. But not all questions have that kind of solution, and it's not up to a librarian to be making up answers that don't exist." (Grandma Marion, 218)

Like every answer gave her more questions to worry about. (244) ( )

This was an enjoyable, although flawed, quick read. The main character is engaging and anyone who knows anxiety will relate to her. I didn't like the explanation of the magic pencil- I would have preferred it to simply be magical without an explanation. The story is a bit too message-driven, and the metaphor of letting go is too literal. Nonetheless, I can definitely think of readers who will enjoy (and even love) it. The lack of complexity makes me think it's for younger readers (old 3rd to young 5th grades) than the ages of the characters (7th grade) would indicate. ( )

This was a quick, easy read, but it held a lot of depth. It was sad, and I read it after experiencing a death in the family, so what the book was talking about hit me pretty hard. I loved the characters, and the magic involved. I recommend this book 100% Kate Messners other books are also a joy to read! ( )