Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Antsy Does Time by Neal Shüsterman

This sequel to The Schwa Was Here was even better than the first! Anthony "Antsy" Bonano returns with many of his friends from the previous story. Calvin Schwa is not in the story, and while there is some mention of him, this book does not build on the last one--it is its own story.
A new character is Gunnar Ümlaut, who believes himself to be dying of a terminal illness called Pulmonary Monoxic Systemia. Antsy goes on a campaign to have people donate a month of their lives to Gunnar, and it seemed like a noble, symbolic gesture, until Antsy realizes that Gunnar's diagnosis wasn't from a very reliable source. Antsy has to learn why Gunnar kind of wishes he was dying, as well as why Gunnar's older sister Kjersten really wanted to go out with him.
This story is hilarious and really deep at the same time, and I would recommend it to anyone. It doesn't matter which one you read first, but make sure you read Antsy Does Time and The Schwa Was Here (and if you don't already know what they mean, look up "schwa" and "ümlaut").
Review by David Dunkerton