Ava is, by nature, a worrier. Some worries--her father's general store potentially going out of business due to a chain grocery store in the area; her grandmother's frequent stomach ailments--are larger than others, but all take up equal space in Ava's head. When a particular pencil starts feeding Ava answers to questions, it seems like this may be the answer to her anxieties. In some cases, it helps--but in other ways, it stands to make things much worse for her. 
 Navigating middle school is hard enough without having an anxiety disorder disrupt one's whole life. Ava worries a lot, but it's not until the end of the book--like, the epilogue--that Ava's parents get her into therapy. Anxiety is a disruptive force, and it keeps Ava from discovering how much she can truly do, and yet something in the descriptions felt false to me--like the worries were too specific, or something, and none of the physical fear sensations. I realize that everyone is different and reacts to stress differently, but Ava's anxiety felt more like an imagining of what anxiety is than what it truly is. 
 Still enjoyed this one; Messner writes great middle-grade stories combining speculative elements that will catch tweens' attention with realistic issues that will resonate with them.