Young Adult Novels for a Good Laugh

When their life gets too crazy, teenagers turn to humor to help them navigate adolescence. we adults that enjoy young adult and children's books sometimes are search for some good laughs too.  Everyone loves a good joke or story, since humor is often the glue of friendships. Teens and adults alike usually feel comfortable enough with their good friends to be honest and silly. While humor in young adult books often focus on the life experience of teenagers, adults remember those times as embarrassing and challenging, sometimes more so than they actually were. The books I am listing here tend to include the expected funny or embarrassing situations as well as offbeat characters and sarcastic or witty dialogue.

Fat Vampire: A Never-Coming-of-Age Story by Adam Rex

15-year-old Doug Lee has been turned into vampire but he's nothing like the sexy Twilight type. Doug is anxious, overweight and dorky. He's more pathetic than powerful, barely understands his vampire powers, and struggles to find any blood to sustain himself.

Sparks: the Epic, Completely True Blue, (almost) Holy Quest of Debbie by S. J. Adams. Debbie has kept her crush on best friend Lisa a secret for two years, even joining Lisa's Christian teen group in the hope that over time Lisa will reciprocate her feelings. But when Lisa gets a serious boyfriend, Debbie's life falls apart. Then she meets the Church of Blue, a faith made-up by two fellow high school outcasts, and begins a hilarious spiritual quest that gives her the strength she needs to come out. Debbie's sarcastic, angst-filled narrative propels this very funny lesbian coming-of-age story.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews 

Greg Gaines has one thing going for him, a wildly self-deprecating sense of humor. But low self-esteem and his efforts to just drift through the chaos of high school mean he has no real friends. His only social activity is making "unwatchable" remakes of classic movies, with Earl, a tough teenager from a dysfunctional family. Under pressure from his mother, Greg reconnects with Rachel, a former friend who has just been diagnosed with leukemia. His smart-aleck humor makes her laugh but it's not going to save her life.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
This intricately plotted adult novel includes a number of elements that should appeal to teenagers. A combination of e-mails, letters, articles, and a narrative by Bee, the teenage daughter of Bernadette, to create a comic collage of offbeat characterizations, witty situations, and satirical observations examining why a brilliant, but increasingly eccentric former artist disappeared.

There is No Dog by Meg Rosoff
God as a teenage boy named Bob; an immortal whose mother won Earth in a card game is the conceit at the center of Meg Rosoff's offbeat and darkly humorous novel. Bob is lazy, selfish, and obsessed with sex. He acts with no concern for the result of his actions. And now his lust for a beautiful human assistant zookeeper has brought Earth to the brink of environmental disaster. Might it not be time for a change in the heavenly order?

Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin
Kelsey Finkelstein's efforts to revamp herself during her freshman year in high school leads to mishap after mishap in this hilarious coming-of-age novel. The travails of freshman year have never been conveyed with so much humor.

More chuckle worthy young adult novels I would recommend include: Guy Langman, Crime Scene Procrastinator by Josh Berk, Firecracker by David Iserson, Matthew Meets the Man by Travis Nichols, Getting over Garrett Delaney by Abby McDonald, Call the Shots by Don Calame,  Not That Kind of Girl by Vivian Siobhan, and The Downside of Being Up by Alan Lawrence Sitomer.

Book Review: Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic by Iain Reading

Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic is the fourth book in the Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency series by Iain Reading. This is a series that you do need to read in order, and one that I highly recommend for mature middle grade readers, young adults, and adults.

The Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency Series follows intrepid teenage seaplane pilot Kitty Hawk and her various adventures of mystery and intrigue as she follows in the footsteps of Amelia Earhart on an epic flight around the world. This fourth book in the series brings Kitty to the emerald hills of Ireland where she meets a handsome stranger and is quickly caught up in a hundred-year-old family treasure hunt involving secret codes and puzzling clues that lead her on a fast-paced adventure that carries her from Dublin to London until she finally unlocks the mystery and discovers the long-hidden treasure. Much like the earlier books in this series, has some high action and plenty of mystery and history.

Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic opens with a few good laughs and quickly mores into the mystery. Here Kitty is introduced to the mysteries and questions surrounding (as you might have guessed from the title) the Titanic. There are some great tidbits of history that really came to life for me as I read, and I enjoyed the decoding of messages and clue following. I did not feel as connected to the secondary characters as I have in previous books, almost like a couple of them came in too fast to really get the normal fleshing out and personalization that I expected. The historical information and locations were very well integrated in the story and set me with the wanderlust and desire to do more research just as the previous books did. I would love the chance to travel the world as freely as Kitty, although I do not need to get myself into dangerous situations, although solving a few mysteries along the way would be fine with me.

Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic did not grip me as much as the previous three books, but I will admit to having extremely high expectations because of how great the other books were, and I was coming of a serious reading slump. With that in mind, I still think it was an excellent book with Google-able locations and documents that made the read very interactive. The combination of danger, high action, and several layers of mystery and puzzles to solve was perfectly balanced and left me looking forward to seeing more about Miss Kitty Hawk.

Book Review: Changeless (Parasol Protectorate, #2) by Gail Carriger

Changeless is the second book in the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. Alexia Maccon, the Lady Woolsey, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears; leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria. But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions, and an arsenal of biting civility. So even when her investigations take her to Scotland, the backwater of ugly waistcoats, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only the soulless can. She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it.

I enjoyed Changeless both more and less than the first book, Soulless. While I was glad to see some serious character growth and a few more familiar names from the Finishing School series, I felt a little disappointed in that I saw the big surprise at the end of the book coming, although Alexia’s surprise at the reveal was priceless. The mystery of what the supernatural plague of “humanity” is and how it works is solid, and the introduction of new characters intriguing, I felt like there was a bit too much left unresolved at the end. The of course simply had my overeager for the next installment rather than really angry.

The Parasol Protectorate series is my favorite kind of literary candy. The story is fun, exciting, and often unexpected. I love that Alexia and her varied friends and companions offer highly entertaining dialogue (both shared and internal) that often has my chuckling or rolling my eyes at the less intelligent characters. I have already started listening to the audiobook of the third book, Blameless, and love the reader’s talent. I almost wish I had listened from the beginning, because the voices and inflections she uses adds a special quality to the story. I love it!

I highly recommend Changeless and the entire Parasol Protectorate series to everyone that enjoys a fun and unique read. The combination of wit, paranormal characters, steampunk, and suspense is very well done. 

Best Parodies of Nonfiction Materials Five Great Parodies

Tired of the seemingly endless supply of how to and self help manuals on every conceivable subject? It seems like for every best selling non fiction book that is worthwhile other immediately follow in its wake with the same information or worse, misinformation. These parodies take those books and entertain us while making the subject new again.

The Self-Destruction Handbook: 8 Simple Steps to an Unhealthier You by Adam Wasson and Jessica Stamen is a parody of all the self help books intended to help the reader live a healthier life. In this handbook you can learn how to lose weight too quickly, start a drinking problem, which drugs are right for you and so much more. The book is a fun, entertaining read that does not mock those looking to better themselves, but laughs openly at the advise that those individuals often receive.

Releasing the Imbecile within: An Incomplete Idiot's Guide by Paul Livingston is another self help parody. This book focuses more on the genre of books that attempt to make the reader a more effective individual in business and friendships rather than personal health. It begins with a test to show how unintelligent you are, and goes on from there.

Hardly Working: The Overachieving Underperformer's Guide to Doing as Little as Possible in the Office by Chris Morran makes fun of the office and business administration books. Instead of learning to be an effective worker or leader this book shows readers how to do as little as possible at work. Learn the art of looking hard at work as you play solitaire or shop on the internet. A perfect parody for anyone forced to read materials or attend workshops intended to increase their workplace moral and productivity.

101 Places Not to Visit: Your Essential Guide to the World's Most Miserable, Ugly, Boring and Inbred Destinations by Adam Russ is the answer for travel lovers that are tired of reading guides that refuse to say anything negative about listed locales as well as those who simply dislike traveling. Every continent is featured in the book including Antarctica. Destination descriptions are laden with stereotypes and disinformation. It is an entertaining parody of travel guides, tourists and some highly traveled locations.

Homeland Insecurity: The Onion Complete News Archives, Volume 17 (Onion Ad Nauseam) by Scott Dikkers is a collection of parody news stories from The Onion. Each article is a parody of our media companies and the publics urge to believe what it is told. Anyone that enjoys The Onion or is simply fed up with traditional media will enjoy this highly entertaining collection.

Book Review: The Spider by Elise Gravel

The Spider by Elise Gravel is part of a nonfiction series that combines facts about the creepy crawly critters of the world with humor. The book covers topics like a spider's habitats (pretty much everywhere), the silk it spins (it can trap prey and makes a nifty bowtie), and its parenting practice (female spiders carry around their eggs in a silk purse). While each page is pretty silly The Spider also contains real information in a format that can both amuse and teach.

The Spider is a delightfully silly nonfiction book about spiders. The text is a mix of facts and silly twists on those facts to make both young and older readers laugh while learning. The illustrations are key to the giggle factor, and do a great job. I think readers that are just starting to branch out and read a larger variety of book on their own, but are either intimidated or bored by some of the books for their reading level with love this book. more advanced readers will still enjoy the sneaky learning that is woven between silliness.

The Spider is a great choice for young readers that love to learn about nature, and those that just love to laugh. As an easy picturebook it also lends itself to reading at story times or just reading together as a family or for bedtime. It is a great way to make learning fun for everyone. Now I amk going to have to get my hands on the whole series.