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Life is Funny
Life is Funny
Author: E. R. Frank
A moving novel about a diverse group of teenagers in a Brooklyn neighborhood. Eric is fiercely protective of his little brother, Mickey. The world sees only his fierceness. China and Ebony, watching outside the day care near McDonald's, see him as "mad scary." Later, a teacher sees that Eric is an artist worth her attention. He is one of eleven...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780789426345
ISBN-10: 078942634X
Publication Date: 4/1/2000
Pages: 263
Reading Level: Young Adult
Rating:
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 3

4.3 stars, based on 3 ratings
Publisher: DK Publishing
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review
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reviewed Life is Funny on + 8 more book reviews
great for people in 8th grade and over
PIZZELLEBFS avatar reviewed Life is Funny on + 331 more book reviews
"'He's got poetry,' I go, all choky. 'He's got mad poetry.'" With these words from China about her crush Eric, debut author E.R. Frank proves her fresh knowledge of millennial teenspeak. In Life Is Funny, there is no dated slang, only the ripe hip-hop dialogue heard on subway cars and street corners. Frank's ear is perfect as she details the lives and loves of 11 Brooklyn teens on the cusp of adulthood. Though the stories are gritty, for every slam there is a triumph. Tough-talking Monique, who is pregnant by her abusive ex-boyfriend, finds real peace with Hector, a dreamy-eyed nurse at the prenatal clinic who knows that love is the only medicine that will cure her terminal anger. Rich-boy Drew rejects all the material possessions that his father can buy him when he finally makes the 911 call that saves his mother from another beating at his father's hands. There's also Grace, whose movie-star looks can't save her from her alcoholic mom's rages, and Eric, who has lost the ability to love anyone or anything except his little brother Mickey. Sonia feels the friction of being a good Muslim girl in an intolerant public school, and Ebony cuts herself to forget how much she misses having a father in her life.
Frank has penned a high-intensity, multicultural, multidimensional teen reading experience that will challenge and change those who open it. These are real teens in real time. Be prepared for them to rock your world. (Ages 12 and older)


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