Hey, y’all, I’m back with some more good ol’ funny finds!
Last time, I posted about all the funny books I found at the for-charity local bookstore near me, and some were in the YA genre, and some were more adult-ish, but this time… I’ve snatched 3 teen fiction comedies right off the shelf of a different bookshop!
I was on a mini vacation with the fam, and I wasn’t planning on spending much, if any, money on the trip… but, there was a 3 for $20 sale, so you know I wasn’t gonna say no!
I plan on giving book reviews of these at a later date… you know, after I actually read them, but I still couldn’t wait until just then to tell you what all is being added to my to-read list right now!
Let’s see what all we have, shall we?
Find 1: “Hot Dog Girl” by Jennifer Dugan
The book description, taken from Goodreads:
Elouise (Lou) Parker is determined to have the absolute best, most impossibly epic summer of her life. There are just a few things standing in her way:
* She’s landed a job at Magic Castle Playland . . . as a giant dancing hot dog.
* Her crush, the dreamy Diving Pirate Nick, already has a girlfriend, who is literally the Princess of the park. But Lou’s never liked anyone, guy or otherwise, this much before, and now she wants a chance at her own happily ever after.
* Her best friend, Seeley, the carousel operator, who’s always been up for anything, suddenly isn’t when it comes to Lou’s quest to set her up with the perfect girl or Lou’s scheme to get close to Nick.
* And it turns out that this will be their last summer at Magic Castle Playland–ever–unless she can find a way to stop it from closing.
Why I picked up this book:
The title and cover really said it all for me. I mean, that poor teenaged girl dressed in a sad, sad hot dog suit… I knew it had to be a funny read!
I also did not really take time to read anymore than the back covers or full book descriptions before purchasing any of these books (typical of me, yep), so I did not know until just now that it also happens to be a queer/LGBTQ+ added genre, which I’m all here for! Especially for a YA story, which needs to be relatable and inclusive for all teens… you know, fun and different kinds of romance that I never heard of when I was a teen.
Find 2: Liberty by Andrea Portes
The book description, taken from Goodreads:
What is a hero? Paige Nolan knows.
Sean Raynes, the young man who exposed America’s unconstitutional spying techniques, is a hero, even if half the dum-dums in the country think he’s a traitor. And her journalist parents, who were captured by terrorists while telling stories of the endangered and oppressed—they were heroes, too. Or are—no one has ever told Paige if they’re still alive, or dead.
Not heroes? Anyone in the government who abandoned her parents, letting them rot somewhere halfway across the world.
And certainly not Paige herself, who, despite her fluency in five languages and mastery of several obscure martial arts (thanks, Mom!), could do nothing to save them.
Couldn’t, that is, until she’s approached by Madden Carter, an undercover operative who gives her a mission: fly to Russia, find Raynes, and discover what other government secrets he’s stockpiled. In exchange, he’ll reopen the case on her missing parents.
She’s given a code name and a cover as a foreign exchange student.
Who is a hero? Not Paige Nolan, but maybe, just maybe, Liberty is.
Why I picked up this book:
Um, teen spy fiction, hello?
I’m a sucker for YA spy books, and it’s pretty obvious, seeing how I even wrote one myself! And, of course, what’s even better than a teen spy novel? How about… a comedic teen spy novel! Which, of course, the description that I did, in fact, read while in the store shows this pretty lil’ book is! Yea-yuh!
Find 3: Flying by Carrie Jones
The book description, taken from Goodreads:
People have always treated seventeen-year-old Mana as someone in need of protection. She’s used to being coddled, being an only child, but it’s hard to imagine anything could ever happen in her small-town, normal life. As her mother’s babying gets more stifling than ever, she’s looking forward to cheering at the big game and getting out of the house for a while.
But that night, Mana’s life goes haywire.
First, the hot guy she’s been crushing on at school randomly flips out and starts spitting acid during the game. Then they get into a knockdown, drag-out fight in the locker room, during which Mana finds herself leaping around like a kangaroo on steroids. As a flyer on the cheerleading squad, she’s always been a good jumper, but this is a bit much. By the time she gets home and finds her house trashed and an alien in the garage, Mana starts to wonder if her mother had her reasons for being overprotective.
It turns out, Mana’s frumpy, timid mom is actually an alien hunter, and now she’s missing–taking a piece of technology with her that everyone wants their hands on, both human and alien. Now her supposed partner, a guy that Mana has never met or heard of (and who seems way too young and way too arrogant to be hunting aliens), has shown up, ordering Mana to come with him. Now, on her own for the first time, Mana will have to find a way to save her mother–and maybe the world–and hope she’s up to the challenge.
Why I picked up this book:
More like, why wouldn’t I pick up this book?
I didn’t even have to read the description on this one; just seeing that cover with a cheerleader holding alien-takedown equipment in her pose grabbed me. And with the subtitle “CHEERLEADER VS. ALIEN, WHO WILL WIN?,” it was really the book picking me up.
And, with a cover so humorous, I was assuming the inside pages will be just as comedic!
Well, guys, that’s all I grabbed for my to-read list this week! Let me know if you have read or plan to read any of these novels, and check back in later to see when I finish and leave my reviews of ’em!
Until I find more comedic teen fiction on my search for everlasting humor in the world…
(Sorry, those last two picks got me feeling like I should be out saving the universe or something.)
–Kari
Kari Lynn M. 