Funny Girl: Funniest. Stories. Ever.
edited by Betsy Bird
Intermediate, Middle School    Viking    205 pp.    g
5/17    978-0-451-477-316    $16.99
e-book ed.  978-0-698-409-446    $10.99

Fuse #8 blogger Bird’s compilation includes twenty-eight entries from “laugh-out-loud funny” female children’s book creators, whom Bird argues are underrepresented in the publishing industry, plus a couple of comedy pros, including former Daily Show writer Delaney Yeager and standup comedian Akilah Hughes (also one guy: Matthew Holm, together with his sister Jennifer). A good mix of formats are represented: Rita Williams-Garcia and Michelle Garcia plus Shannon Hale are among those who contribute short stories; Raina Telgemeier, Cece Bell, Lisa Brown, and others offer comics. There are illustrated stories, epistolary tales, personal anecdotes, poems, a how-to, a quiz, and Mad Libs. Topics include family (“Dear Grandpa: Give Me Money” by Alison DeCamp), friendship (“One Hot Mess” by Carman Agra Deedy), puberty (Libba Bray’s “A Public Service Announcement About Your Period from Sarah T. Wrigley, Age 12 ¾”), and ethnicity and identity (“Brown Girl Pop Quiz: All of the Above” by Mitali Perkins). The types of humor, too, are varied, with some pieces more broad and slapstick-y and others evoking laughs while tugging at heartstrings.

From the May/June 2017 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.