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RE: Keep Them Laughing
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From: Gardow, Pamela <pgardow_at_ecasd.k12.wi.us>
Date: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 11:33:55 -0500
You're so right about Me, Earl and the Dying Girl being a delight. Jesse A ndrews managed to write a novel with characters experiences serious problem s, and make it both poignant and laugh out loud funny! Teens in my library loved this book and its quirky characters.
Another book I appreciated for its humor was Dodger, by Terry Pratchett. Dry wit, whimsy, clever twists of phrase, fun Dickens references and allusi ons, hysterical chapter titles . . . this novel was a delight in the humor department. I'm waiting to see if students will appreciate the humor as mu ch as I did.
I also LOVED one of this year's Alex Award titles - Where'd you go, Bernade tte. This is another title with wonderfully wacky characters, and absurd, laugh out loud situations. It is also a novel with a huge dose of heart! The perfect combination.
Right now I'm in the middle of Winger by Andrew Smith, and am loving this o ne, too! Very funny boarding school situation, where a really smart, sweet , rugby playing 14 year old junior, is sent to the dorm housing delinquent problem students and paired with a scary older rugby teammate. Not only is this very young junior funny and self-deprecating, but the illustrations a dd great visual humor as well.
Pam From: Megan Schliesman
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2013 9:52 AM To: ccbc-net, Subscribers of Subject:
Keep Them Laughing
It's time to start our discussion for the first part of June:
Keep Them Laughing: More on Humor. Chris Monroe's new picture book Cookie t he Walker (Carolrhoda, 2013) has us thinking more about what's funny, a dis cussion we began in February when we talked about humor in multicultural li terature. From an outrageous premise spun into delight to authors and illu strators adept at finding humor in situations both likely and unlikely, hum or can be broad in appeal and yet so specific when it comes to individual t aste.
One of the things we always love seeing here at the CCBC are funny y.a. boo ks. So much y.a. lit is not funny (and isn't trying to be), so books that c an capture dimensions of the adolescent experience with tongue in cheek, or both humor and heart, stand out from the crowd. One example from last yea r that we greatly appreciated is "Me, Earl and the Dying Girl" by Jesse And rews (Amulet / Abrams, 2012). This year, a stand-out for me so far is "Open ly Straight" by Bill Konigsberg (Arthur A. Levine Book / Scholastic, 2013).
Megan
Date: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 11:33:55 -0500
You're so right about Me, Earl and the Dying Girl being a delight. Jesse A ndrews managed to write a novel with characters experiences serious problem s, and make it both poignant and laugh out loud funny! Teens in my library loved this book and its quirky characters.
Another book I appreciated for its humor was Dodger, by Terry Pratchett. Dry wit, whimsy, clever twists of phrase, fun Dickens references and allusi ons, hysterical chapter titles . . . this novel was a delight in the humor department. I'm waiting to see if students will appreciate the humor as mu ch as I did.
I also LOVED one of this year's Alex Award titles - Where'd you go, Bernade tte. This is another title with wonderfully wacky characters, and absurd, laugh out loud situations. It is also a novel with a huge dose of heart! The perfect combination.
Right now I'm in the middle of Winger by Andrew Smith, and am loving this o ne, too! Very funny boarding school situation, where a really smart, sweet , rugby playing 14 year old junior, is sent to the dorm housing delinquent problem students and paired with a scary older rugby teammate. Not only is this very young junior funny and self-deprecating, but the illustrations a dd great visual humor as well.
Pam From: Megan Schliesman
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2013 9:52 AM To: ccbc-net, Subscribers of Subject:
Keep Them Laughing
It's time to start our discussion for the first part of June:
Keep Them Laughing: More on Humor. Chris Monroe's new picture book Cookie t he Walker (Carolrhoda, 2013) has us thinking more about what's funny, a dis cussion we began in February when we talked about humor in multicultural li terature. From an outrageous premise spun into delight to authors and illu strators adept at finding humor in situations both likely and unlikely, hum or can be broad in appeal and yet so specific when it comes to individual t aste.
One of the things we always love seeing here at the CCBC are funny y.a. boo ks. So much y.a. lit is not funny (and isn't trying to be), so books that c an capture dimensions of the adolescent experience with tongue in cheek, or both humor and heart, stand out from the crowd. One example from last yea r that we greatly appreciated is "Me, Earl and the Dying Girl" by Jesse And rews (Amulet / Abrams, 2012). This year, a stand-out for me so far is "Open ly Straight" by Bill Konigsberg (Arthur A. Levine Book / Scholastic, 2013).
Megan
-- Megan Schliesman, Librarian Cooperative Children's Book Center School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison 600 N. Park Street, Room 4290 Madison, WI 53706 608/262-9503 schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ ---Received on Thu 06 Jun 2013 11:33:55 AM CDT
