Humor

Popular, A Memoir

A touchingly honest, candidly hysterical memoir from breakout teen author Maya Van Wagenen. Stuck at the bottom of the social ladder at “pretty much the lowest level of people at school who aren’t paid to be here,” Maya Van Wagenen decided to begin a unique social experiment: spend the school year following a 1950s popularity guide, written by former teen model Betty Cornell. Can curlers, girdles, Vaseline and a strand of pearls help Maya on her quest to be popular? The real-life results are painful, funny and include a wonderful and unexpected surprise-meeting and befriending Betty Cornell herself. Told with humor and grace, Maya’s journey offers readers of all ages a thoroughly contemporary example of kindness and self-confidence.

When Mr. Dog Bites

All seventeen-year-old Dylan Mint wants is to keep his Tourette’s in check and live as a normal teen, but during a routine hospital visit he overhears that he is going to die, and in an attempt to claim the life he has always wanted he makes a list of “Cool Things To Do Before I Cack It” and sets out to have some fun.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume VII, Issue 2

Weasels

Weasels. What do you think they do all day? Plot world domination — that’s what! This rollicking madcap weasel adventure is packed full of mischief and mayhem, featuring hilarious weasel antics rendered in Elys Dolan’s exuberant style.

There’s A Hole In My Bucket

A retelling of a German folksong about a bear unable to water his flowers because every attempt to repair the hole in his bucket only leads to further problems.

I Didn’t Do My Homework Because…

How many excuses are there for not doing homework? Let us count the ways: Giant lizards invaded the neighborhood. Elves hid all the pencils. And then there was that problem with carnivorous plants. The excuses go on and on, each more absurd than the next and escalating to hilarious heights.

You Can’t Have Too Many Friends!

Duck grows mouthwatering marshmallows and licorice whips. When jellybeans that Duck grew win a prize at the fair, the king comes and “borrows” some but after much time passes Duck. Getting the candy back will not be easy. But with the help of many unusual friends, Duck might have some luck.

Earth To Audrey

Audrey comes into Ray’s life like an earthbound star. Everything about her is a bit far-out. And she’s always in her own little world. So Ray decides that this unusual girl who has dropped into his neighborhood for the summer must be an alien. As they become friends, Audrey takes Ray on a journey of discovery — one that enables him to see his own planet in a new light. Soon, Ray can’t imagine life on Earth without her. Susan Hughes’ poignant, gently humorous text and Stephane Poulin’s evocative, heartfelt illustrations capture the long childhood summer of discovery in a small town and depict a friendship that changed the lives of two lonely dreamers.

Trouble

A retelling of a traditional Eritrean tale in which a young goatherd disobeys his father by inadvertently trading away the board game that was supposed to keep him out of trouble.