Review by Booklist Review
Ava Anderson is a 12-year-old with a lot to worry about. She could get killed on an upcoming school field trip; she might play her saxophone so poorly at middle-school band tryouts that she is laughed out of the room; and although her parents say they are in love, what if they get divorced? When Ava grabs a random blue pencil out of the junk drawer on her way to school, she discovers during a math test that it will tell her the answers to her questions, depending on how those questions are asked. The pencil, however, will only answer factual questions, and Ava soon learns that a little bit of knowledge with no context can lead to disaster. Along the way, Ava learns lessons about coping and bravery that should resonate with middle-grade readers struggling with their own anxieties. Although Ava is constantly worried, the novel's tone remains bright and cheerful. Yes, there's a magical pencil, but this remains an emotionally resonant portrait of a sweet girl whose struggles are firmly rooted in reality.--Szwarek, Magan Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Ava Anderson, a 12-year-old chronic worrier, comes across a pencil that appears to be able to talk, telling her the answers to her questions about everything from mathematical formulas for a quiz to concerns over family members' health problems. Messner (Manhunt) has created a relatable, sympathetic character in anxious Ava, and her story is at its best when Ava's life remains centered around the norms of her school, friends, and multigenerational family, as well as the lighter dilemmas and possibilities the magic pencil raises, such as whether it's cheating to use it on homework, or which boy likes her best friend. However, despite the potential of the premise, it flounders a bit when too many worries are piled onto Ava's plate, overloading the story with serious concerns over dementia, breast cancer, gambling addictions, and the death of a loved one. Ava eventually comes to learn that "life isn't about knowing all the answers," but she must bear some heavy burdens in order to come to that knowledge. Ages 8-12. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Middle schooler Ava always seems to be nervous about something: her math quiz, an upcoming field trip to an adventure park, the possibility of her parents divorcing. When she uses an old blue pencil found in a junk drawer to write a question in the margin of her math quiz, a voice that only she can hear tells her the correct answer. It turns out that the pencil can answer factual questions of all kinds, from what people think and feel queries about schoolwork. Ava and her friend Sophie use the magical power of the pencil to try to help the elderly people in Ava's grandpa's old age home and in the process make discoveries about her grandpa's thoughts and wishes. So far so good, but when Ava discovers through the pencil that her mother has breast cancer and that her mother is about to postpone her mammogram so that she can accompany Ava on her adventure park trip, Ava finds herself having to call on all her inner resources to ensure that her mother goes for her test. In the process, she surprises herself at what she is able to do. When Ava realizes that the magic pencil is inhabited by a piece of her long-dead grandmother's spirit, she helps to make her grandfather's last moments happier. Ava is a sympathetic and well-rounded character, and the relationship, conflicts included, between her and the more outgoing Sophie rings true. The writing is smooth and the dialogue believable. VERDICT Firmly planted in realistic fiction with a single fantastical element, this story will appeal to Wendy Mass fans as well as those who love Messner's previous novels.-Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Twelve-year-old Ava, a chronic worrier, finds a magic pencil that allows her to write a question and hear a disembodied voice reply. Maybe having all the answers is the answer! But the pencil's magic has rules, and Ava eventually learns to calm her fears. Despite some uneven plot and character development, this is an enjoyable, if idealistic, story of friendship and family. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
When 12-year-old Ava Anderson finds a magic pencil in the kitchen junk drawer, geometry becomes a lot easierand her life becomes much more complicated.Ava lives with her family in upstate New York, along with two goats purchased by her father in hopes that fresh goats' milk will help Anderson's General Store survive the new Shop-Mart superstore. Ava is afraid of the goats. She's also afraid of math tests, band audition, field trips and participating in the lunchtime library book club at school. So when her pencil says, "Two Pi R," when she desperately writes, "What is the formula to find the circumference of a circle?" on her math test, she sees her road to certainty. But it won't answer just any questionlike whether her parents may get divorcedas people have free will, and some answers are just plain terrifying, like whether her grandmother is going to die. Messner plunges Ava into recognizable preteen situations both at school and at home. She stuffs her book with issues, though, and both the nature of and the explanation for the pencil's magic are fatally contrived. Nevertheless, readers will cheer as Ava heroically tackles a terrifying ropes course alone so that her mother will get a medical test only Ava knows she needs. This sympathetic protagonist offers children a mostly successful look at clinical anxiety. (Fantasy. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
