“Have you ever done something extremely stupid like, oh, I don’t know, try to make a room filled with total strangers laugh until their sides hurt?”

From James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein’s I Funny.

Even though he’s stuck in a wheelchair and recent been sent to live with his humorless aunt and uncle (nicknamed the Smileys), Jamie wants to use humor to make his life better.  As the new kid in school, Jamie uses jokes and laughter to fend off most of the bullies, but unfortunately it doesn’t work so well against his biggest bully and cousin: Stevie.  When Jamie’s other uncle tells him about a junior comedy stand-up competition that is coming up, Jamie prepares some jokes and enters the competition.  When he wins the competition and is informed that he’ll be moving on to the state competition, Jamie is excited until some cyberbullies cause him to question his ability as a young comedian.  While Jamie strives to be accepted as a normal kid, his painful past and the swirling doubts threaten to throw off his entire year.  However, as the state comedy competition draws closer, Jamie will have to decide once and for all what kind of person he wants to be when surrounded by negativity.

Patterson and Grabenstein have come together to create a story that is full of both hilarious highs and crushing lows.  The main character’s genuine heart only adds to his constant jokes, but it also easily connects the reader to Jamie’s heartbreak.  While marketed for young readers, I Funny holds something for everyone, and will leave readers looking forward to the continuation of the characters’ stories.