Life Is Funny (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781481431644)

E. R. Frank's seminal first novel weaves together the stories of eleven teenagers in one city over seven years in this groundbreaking and "impressive debut" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Why does Gingerbread always have a smile on his face? "Because life is funny," he tells Keisha. But for her--and almost everyone else in her Brooklyn neighborhood--there doesn't seem to be much to laugh about.

China, Ebony, and Grace are best friends, but Grace's mother isn't crazy about her being friends with two girls who aren't white, and each cut Ebony makes on her wrist seems to drive them even further apart.

Just across the schoolyard there's Eric who has to raise his younger brother Mickey, even though no one expects him to amount to anything. Meanwhile, Sonia's Muslim parents expect everything of her, and it may be more than she is able to give after she suffers a shattering loss.

When Drew brings his father's Jaguar into Sam's family's auto body shop across town they seem to be from opposite sides of the tracks, but Drew's the one hiding a dark family secret. And he's not the only one.

Author: E. R. Frank
ISBN-10: 1481431641
ISBN-13: 9781481431644
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Language: English
Published: 05/31/2016
Pages: 288
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.70w x 0.70d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.7
Point Value: 8
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 42964 / Life Is Funny


Review Citation(s):
Voice of Youth Advocates 10/01/2016 - Recommended - Better Than Most
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2016 pg. 123 - Superior,Well Above Average