Life is Funny

Bibliographic Information: Frank, E.R. (2002). Life is Funny. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Brief Annotation: Hardships and struggle are not always seen from simply looking at someone. While simply looking at a picture tells a thousand words the same is not true for looking at someone. This book follows 11 kids, who have had their own struggles in life. Each one of their stories ties in with the others. The book follows these individuals for seven years; it takes you through their fear, struggle, hurt, pain, joy, sadness and every other emotion. The book emphasizes not only trust in yourself, but trust in others.

Genre: Contemporary realistic fiction

Grade Level: 6+

Readers who will like this: Children who have dealt with pain and struggle and felt they had nowhere else to turn; Children who enjoy reading sad stories; Children who feel they cannot trust others or themselves

Response/Rating:4; I love sad books so my vote may be bias. As tough of a read as it was, this story taught the reader more than what the words on the page said. This book emphasizes on trust within not only yourself, but others as well. I like how it shows trust in others, even after others have given you no reason to trust. I especially like that the struggle the seven children faced did not define who they were and who they wanted to be.

One question you would ask before a read aloud: What can you tell about someone just by looking at them?