“Life isn’t about knowing all the answers. The best we can do is to make peace with our questions, learn who we are, know our strengths, and do the best we can with the gifts we’ve been given while we’re here.”
What if you had a magic pencil? What if it had all the answers? Ava Anderson picks up a pencil from the kitchen junk drawer. But, she soon discovered that this is no ordinary pencil. Whatever (factual) question is written by that pencil will be answered by a voice that only the person who writes the question can hear. But this pencil causes a lot of chaos and confusion in Ava’s life. Ava has anxiety, but knowing the answers doesn’t help. Instead, it leads to more questions and more worries, some of which the pencil can’t answer.
This used to be one of my favorite books. I revisited it a few weeks ago, and I still liked it. Similar to Ella Enchanted, I liked it less than I used to, but it was still good. I would probably recommend it for 4th to 6th graders, but it can be enjoyed by people older, or maybe even a little younger.
Overall, I would give this book about 4 stars when presented to the right age. But, I think that if I read it for the first time now, I wouldn’t have rated it so highly. But, its a good book for the right audience, and can still probably be enjoyed by people older, although it may be slightly less enjoyable for them.
