There’s only one certainty about funny books—funny is a personal preference. Students share books with me that they think are funny. Sometimes I don’t always get what makes them laugh. I’ve discovered that one kid’s humor may be an adult’s perplexity—or discomfort. That’s the upshot of humor. It’s about connection and appreciation, not judgment, and it’s a rare find when a humorous title entertains us all equally. Books that create a feeling of good humor convince kids that reading is well worth it. Such stories cause kids to smirk at their own world, LOL at humiliating situations, push against social boundaries, or empathize with a character’s cavalier attitude in a shameful situation. These books pull kids back for more. To advocate reading for fun, try gauging a book by the reaction of the reader. Take what teens are reading seriously and buy more of what makes them laugh—even if you don’t always get it. Many of the following titles are books that preteens and young adults think are funny. I happen to agree.

Middle Grades

CURTIS, Paul Christopher. The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963. Delacorte. 1995. Tr $16.95. ISBN 978-0-385-32175-4; pap. $6.99. ISBN 978-0-440-22800-4. Gr 4-8–Through young Kenny’s eyes, the Watson family comes to life, particularly 13-year-old Byron, the “juvenile delinquent” of the household. From accidentally freezing his lips to the car mirror to waging chemical warfare on his hair, Byron is notorious. A road trip to Alabama and a racial catastrophe put the family friction into perspective. Audio version available from Listening Library. CUSHMAN, Karen. Catherine, Called Birdy. Clarion. 1994. Tr $16. ISBN 978-0-395-68186-2. Gr 5-9-Fourteen-year-old Birdy journals her medieval woes in hysterical proportions. Unhappily betrothed, she desires anything else–even being a wart charmer–to being hooked up with a foul-breathed stranger with fleas in his beard. Middle school readers will be entranced with Birdy’s predicaments, and older readers will appreciate her adolescent quips. Audio version available from Recorded Books. DAHL, Roald. The BFG. illus. by Quentin Blake. Knopf. 1993. Tr $15.95. ISBN 978-0-679-42813-8. Gr 4-6-Unable to sleep, little Sophie gazes out her night window where she spies a galumphing giant blowing sweet dreams upon sleeping children. Noticing her, the BFG has no choice but to pluck her up and carry her along on a series of hilarious and suspenseful adventures. DAHL, Roald. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. illus. by Quentin Blake. Knopf. 2001. Tr $15.95. ISBN 978-0-375-81526-3; PLB $17.99. ISBN 978-0-375-91526-0. Gr 4-6–Themes of greed and gluttony, along with evil adults and spoiled brats, are ridiculed and turned inside out. Dahl’s work bursts with irony that is easy to laugh about. Audio version available from Recorded Books. GANTOS, Jack. Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key. Farrar. 1998. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-374-33664-6. Gr 4-6-Stuck in overdrive, Joey plunges through life like the Tazmanian Devil. What looks funny and crazy on the outside has a much different look through Joey’s lens. A humorous take on ADHD that gains an empathetic reaction. Audio version available from Listening Library. HOWE, James. Totally Joe. S & S/Atheneum. 2005. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-689-83957-3; pap. $5.99. ISBN 978-0-689-83958-0. Gr 6-8-A school assignment has Joe writing about himself in his own voice-like totally. From essays to instant messaging, this clever narrative is spot-on and teen hip. While Joe is comfortably gay in the quagmire of the middle school scene, his story has little to do with sex and everything to do with heart. KINNEY, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid. illus. by author. (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series). Abrams/Amulet. 2007. Tr $12.95. ISBN 978-0-8109-9313-6. Gr 3-6-Told in a crossover format of graphic novel/diary, this is the comical melodrama and daily account of one very put-upon seventh-grade boy. A bit of a geek, Greg is on a popularity mission. A huge hit with reluctant readers and the first title in a successful series. Audio version available from Recorded Books. LOWRY, Lois. The Willoughbys. illus. by author. Houghton. 2008. Tr $16. ISBN 978-0-618-97974-5. Gr 4-7-Despicable parents slough off their annoying children, put their house up for sale, and go off on a European vacation. Glad to be rid of their appalling parents, the children survive by their wits. Enter a nanny and a baby left on a candy tycoon’s doorstep. A not-to-be-missed parody of “old-fashioned” children’s books. Audio version available from Listening Library. PARK, Barbara. Almost Starring Skinny-Bones. Random. 2006. pap. $5.50. ISBN 978-0-394-82591-5. Gr 5-7–Seventh-grader Alex Frankovitch of Skinny-Bones (Random, 1997) has quite a swelled head after getting a starring role in a cat food commercial. However, instead of gaining instant popularity, his fame is loaded with embarrassment; his biggest (and only) fans are a neighborhood toddler and his grandparents. Alex’s healthy ego and overly dramatic reactions turn humiliation into hilarity. PAULSEN, Gary. How Angel Peterson Got His Name: And Other Outrageous Tales About Extreme Sports. Random/Wendy Lamb Bks. 2003. Tr $12.95. ISBN 978-0-385-72949-9. Gr 5-8-Why do 13-year-old boys do wild and crazy things? Paulson doesn’t claim to know, but through these interrelated stories based on his own experiences, he makes their insatiable curiosity funny. Wonder what it would be like to take on Niagara Falls in a barrel? Or pee on an electric fence? A sure choice for reluctant readers. PECK, Richard. Here Lies the Librarian. Dial. 2006. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8037-3080-9; pap. $6.99. ISBN 978-0-14-240908-4 Gr 6-9-Peck rekindles the pizzazz of early- 20th-century Indiana as 14-year-old Peewee makes sense of small-town life. Running a small garage with her older brother, she confronts battles at every turn. From suffering a fancy new dress to driving a hilarious dirt track race, her spitfire wit makes every obstacle a winning moment. Audio version available from Listening Library. PECK, Richard. The Teacher’s Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts. Dial. 2004. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-8037-2736-6. Gr 5-8-Chock-full of wisecracking country dialect, outlandish predicaments, and unruly boys with the devil up their sleeves, this story is a riot. Here are big ol’ country boys wedged into a classroom, where the teacher is too young-and worse-a bossy older sister! Audio version available from Listening Library. PRACHETT, Terry. The Wee Free Men. HarperCollins. 2003. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-001236-6; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-06-001237-3; pap. $6.99. ISBN 978-0-06-001238-0. Gr 6-8-Tiffany, a witch-in-training, doesn’t know her own powers. Armed with a frying pan, she sets off to rescue her kidnapped brother in a wild adventure filled with wacky characters, particularly the sheep-stealing, alcohol-swigging Wee Free Men who are blue, six-inches tall, feisty, and laugh-out-loud funny. Audio version available from HarperChildrens Books. RIORDAN, Rick. The Lightning Thief. (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series). Hyperion. 2005. RTE $17.95. ISBN 978-0-7868-5629-9. Gr 5-9-Mythology and monsters make this first title in the series an action-packed hit. But it’s the idiosyncrasies of the various characters from Greek tales who appear in contemporary surroundings that make this farce really work. Twelve-year-old Percy, straddling two worlds, keeps the sarcastic dialogue fresh. Audio version available from Listening Library. SACHAR, Louis. Wayside School Is Falling Down. illus. by Joel Schick. HarperCollins. 1989. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-688-07868-3; pap. $5.99. ISBN 978-0-380-75484-7. Gr 4-6-Twenty years after it was first published, children still favor this as “the funniest book ever.” With scary teachers, kind janitors, and certain floors that don’t exist, this is a school in which imagination is stoked and tongue-in-cheek wordplay keeps everyone laughing. Audio version available from Listening Library. SCIESZKA, Jon, ed. Guys Write for Guys Read: Boys’ Favorite Authors Write About Being Boys. Viking. 2005. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-670-06007-8; pap. $11.99. ISBN 978-0-670-01144-5. Gr 5 Up-In this collection of short stories, many autobiographical, well-known authors share boyhood anecdotes, from oddball neighborhood kids who end up in hospitals because of daredevil deeds to a boy who barely escapes becoming part of feeding time when he photographs lions at the zoo. Several graphic comic spreads and cartoons add appeal. SPINELLI, Jerry. Space Station Seventh Grade. Little, Brown. 2000. pap. $6.99. ISBN 978-0-316-80605-3. Gr 6-8-Everything in Jason’s life is of humongous importance, including girls, gym showers, body hair, pimples, and a hilarious best friend high on testosterone. A funny guide to surviving the pitfalls and navigating the alien world of seventh grade. Audio version available from Recorded Books. STEWART, Trenton Lee. The Mysterious Benedict Society. illus. by Carson Ellis. Little, Brown. 2007. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-316-05777-6; pap. $6.99. ISBN 978-0-316-00395-7. Gr 4-8-An adventure of intrigue and suspense develops as four child brianiacs train for a mission to save the world. Clever characters are well developed with enough quirks to please fans of Dahl and Rowling. Tests, clues, puzzles, and common sense abound while comical predicaments offer a satisfying twist. Audio version available from Listening Library.

High School

ALEXIE, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. illus. by Ellen Forney. Little, Brown. 2007. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-316-01368-0; pap. $8.99. ISBN 978-0-316-01369-7. Gr 7-10–A sense of humor is the overlay for Arnold’s dead-serious quest to escape from his Spokane Indian reservation. Tough circumstances are embraced, family and friends are honored, and adversity is transformed by the author’s masterful droll tone. Pencil cartoons add to this bittersweet sketch of life on the rez. Audio version available from Recorded Books. BRYSON, Bill. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail. Broadway. 1998. Tr $25. ISBN 978-0-7679-0251-9; pap. $14.95. ISBN 978-0-7679-0252-6. Gr 7 Up-A step-by-step description of hiking the daunting and very long Appalachian Trail shouldn’t be this funny. But when the famous trail is tackled by two ill-prepared buddies, the experience is laughably ridiculous. The wonder and danger of going up against the wilderness offer enough adventure to appease even serious hikers. Audio version available from Recorded Books. CRUTCHER, Chris. King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography. HarperCollins. 2003. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-06-050249-2; pap. $7.99. ISBN 978-0-06-050251-5. Gr 8 Up-Rife with indignities, this memoir is rich in real-life hilarity. Grappling with his quick-trigger temper, Chris is often shooting off his mouth, or worse, crying over thwarted battles. Innocent victim to his brother’s knowing taunts-from being bribed with Oreo cookies to taking BB hits in the head-he is set up time and time again. Audio version available from Listening Library. GANTOS, Jack. Hole in My Life. Farrar. 2002. Tr $16. ISBN 978-0-374-39988-7; pap. $8. ISBN 978-0-374-43089-4. Gr 8 Up-Pirating a shipload of hash up the coast into the Hudson Harbor was the dumb deed of the teenage Jack. Gantos deftly tells his derring-do tale with the gripping consequence of his jail time. Holding back little, he loads this year-in-the-life with adventure and his trademark glib humor that tempers adversity. Audio version available from Listening Library. GROGAN, John. Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog. HarperCollins. 2005. Tr $21.95. ISBN 978-0-06-081708-4; pap. $13.95. ISBN 978-0-06-081709-1. Gr 7 Up-In this charming story, family life is turned topsy-turvy by an incorrigibly bad but irresistibly lovable Labrador retriever. Chewed carpets, clawed garage doors, and gouged enamel tubs are left behind in Marley’s wake. Here’s a domesticated dog that makes wild horses look calm! Audio version available from Recorded Books. HORNBY, Nick. Slam. Putnam. 2007. Tr $19.99. ISBN 978-0-399-25048-4; pap. $14. ISBN 978-1-59448-345-5. Gr 7 Up-Fifteen-year-old skateboarding Sam is slammed to earth when his girlfriend gets pregnant. Panicked by his impending fatherhood, he beats himself up over his carelessness. Funny and melodramatic, the teen is also reflective. As Sam explains, “The truth was we needed a parent, not a kid.” A serious topic handled with humor and hope. Audio version available from Penguin Audio. JUBY, Susan. Alice, I Think. HarperTeen. 2003. Tr $15.99. ISBN 978-0-06-051543-0; PLB $16.89. ISBN 978-0-06-051544-7; pap. $7.99. ISBN 978-0-06-051545-4. Gr 8 Up-Alice’s transition from homeschooling to high school is challenging. A good kid, she’s taking painstaking steps to survive an environment of offbeat but well-meaning adults. Her journal entries are brimming with self-reflection. Smart teens bemused by the oddities of life will appreciate Alice’s quest for normalcy. Audio version available from Recorded Books. KATZ, Jon. A Dog Year: Rescuing Devon, the Most Troublesome Dog in the World. Villard. 2002. Tr $21.95. ISBN 978-0-375-50297-2; pap. $12.95. ISBN 978-0-8129-6690-9. Gr 7 Up-Readers who love Marley will flip for Katz and his canine clan. This story includes appearances from Katz’s other three dogs, but it’s Devon “the Helldog,” a bright but needy border collie, that steals the show. Impeccable writing breathes heart and laughter into a winning tale of a man and his best friends. LUBAR, David. Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie. Dutton. 2005. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-525-47311-4; pap. $7.99. ISBN 978-0-14-240780-6. Gr 7 Up-Scott’s an intellectually inclined freshman struggling with adolescent awkwardness. He writes cautionary letters to his future sibling (he’s perturbed by his mother’s pregnancy), journal entries about high school woes, and lists for a newspaper column while keeping up a witty narrative that strings it all together. Audio version available from Full Cast Audio. MORIARTY, Jaclyn. Feeling Sorry for Celia: A Novel. St. Martin’s. 2001. Tr $16.95. ISBN 978-0-312-26923-4; pap. $13.95. ISBN 978-0-312-28736-8. Gr 7 Up-Elizabeth’s adolescence unfolds entirely through written correspondence. Readers are privy to her journal entries, letters from her alter egos, refrigerator notes from her mother, letters from her best/worst friend, and more. From rocky friendships to love triangles, readers will enjoy this teen’s slyly revealed humor. Audio version available from Recorded Books. MURDOCK, Catherine. Dairy Queen. Houghton. 2006. Tr $16. ISBN 978-0-618-68307-9; pap. $8.99. ISBN 978-0-618-86335-8. Gr 7 Up–Saddled with doing all the chores, D.J. is a farm girl who’s in great shape. A new and not-so-unpleasant chore is training the lazy, self-indulgent star of her high school’s rival football team. Soon D.J. wants it all: the guy and a spot for herself on the team. Audio version available from Listening Library. RENNISON, Louise. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging. HarperCollins. 2000. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-0-06-028814-3; PLB $17.89. ISBN 978-0-06-028871-6; pap. $8.99. ISBN 978-0-06-447227-2. Gr 7-9-Georgia Nicolson, 14, is bursting with angst and attitude, and nothing is safe from her candid view of the dull life that surrounds her. She is fixated on her breasts (or lack of) and obsessed with boys. British slang (glossary provided) adds edgy charm to this hilarious book. Audio version available from Recorded Books. SEDARIS, David. Me Talk Pretty One Day. Little, Brown. 2000. Tr $25.99. ISBN 978-0-316-77772-8; pap. $14.99. ISBN 978-0-316-77696-7. Gr 10 Up-What happens when you’re gay, your parents are slightly wonky, and you have a knack at exposing the funniest idiosyncrasies of life? From contending with his boyhood speech teacher-whose therapy is more unsettling than his lisp-to stumbling about in the art world, Sedaris makes growing up different hilarious. TWAIN, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. S & S. 2007. pap. $4.95. ISBN 978-1-4165-3473-0. Gr 8 Up-Twain’s natural and deliberate use of anachronistic language still captures attention and plays with the imagination. Classic Twain satire. VAN DE RUIT, John. Spud. Penguin/Razorbill. 2007. Tr $16.99. ISBN 978-1-59514-170-5; pap. $9.99. ISBN 978-1-59514-187-3. Gr 8 Up-Through diary entries, 13-year-old Spud eyeballs his dysfunctional family life, South Africa’s political strife, and the illusionary facade of a posh boarding school. Readers will find late-night swims, tormented roommates, sexualized male rituals, raucous dorm scenes, abusive faculty, eccentric teachers, and enough whacked-out characters to fill a loony bin. VONNEGUT, Kurt. Mother Night. Dial. 1999. pap. $14. ISBN 978-0-385-33414-3. Gr 10 Up-Vonnegut is often hailed as a foremost dark humorist of the 20th century. Introduce teens to his work with this less-acclaimed tale of an American spy sitting in an Israeli jail as a presumed Nazi war criminal. Night is Vonnegut at his best: funny, brisk, thematically rich, and extremely dark.

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Alison Follos (Alisonmg@frontiernet.net) is the librarian at North Country School, Lake Placid, NY, and the author of Reviving Reading: School Library Programming, Author Visits and Books That Rock! (Libraries Unlimited, 2006).