Guys Read: Funny Business

By: Jon Scieszka, Adam Rex, Christopher Curtis, David Lubar, Jack Gantos, Jeff Kinney, Kate DiCamillo, Mac Barnett, Paul Feig, Eoin Colfer

Narrated by: Michael Boatman, Kate DiCamillo, John Keating, Jon Scieszka, Bronson Pinchot

It’s here: Volume One of the official Guys Read Library. Jon Scieszka’s Guys Read initiative was founded on a simple premise: that young guys enjoy reading most when they have reading they can enjoy. And out of this comes a series that aims to give them just that. The series includes 10 books, arranged by theme, featuring the best of the best where writing for kids is concerned. Each book is a collection of original short stories, but these aren’t your typical anthologies - each book is edgy, inventive, visual, and one-of-a-kind, featuring a different theme for guys to get excited about.

Funny Business is based around the theme of - what else? - humor, and if you’re familiar with Jon and Guys Read, you already know what you’re in store for: 10 hilarious stories from some of the funniest writers around. Before you’re through, you’ll meet a teenage mummy; a kid desperate to take a dip in the world’s largest pool of chocolate milk; a homicidal turkey; parents who hand over their son’s room to a biker; the only kid in his middle school who hasn’t turned into a vampire, wizard, or superhero; and more. And the contributor list includes best-selling authors, award winners, and fresh new talent alike: Mac Barnett, Eoin Colfer, Christopher Paul Curtis, Kate DiCamillo (writing with Jon Scieszka), Paul Feig, Jack Gantos, Jeff Kinney, David Lubar, Adam Rex, and David Yoo.

Guys Read is all about turning young readers into lifelong ones - and with this book, and each subsequent installment in the series, we aim to leave no guy unturned.

©2010 Mac Barnett, Eoin Colfer, Christopher Paul Curtis, Kate DiCamillo & Jon Scieszka, Paul Feig, Jack Gantos, Jeff Kinney, David Lubar, Adam Rex, and David Yoo (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

Tons of laughs

What did you love best about Guys Read: Funny Business?

This anthology has it all - good laughs, great writing and great reading.

What other book might you compare Guys Read: Funny Business to and why?

This belongs on a shelf with all those great middle reader books like "Diary of a Wimpy Kid", "Artemis Fowl" and "The Lightening Thief". It is also part of a series selected specifically for boys to read.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

There are a variety of narrators. I LOVE Eoin Colfer - he's Irish (fun accent and gift of gab), plus he's telling what sounds like a true story. I also liked the readers for "Your Question for Author Here" - this is a series of letters and the editors had the wisdom to use two voices.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed and laughed. I also loved the insights into boys' brains, as I am raising two of them.

Any additional comments?

Let's say you have a long car trip. Let's say you have to take this car trip with two boys, and in addition to that, you don't want to listen to a chorus of "Are we there yet?" and "He's breathing my air!" Nor do you wish to rot your mind with their favorite kid pop tunes or Disney songs. Solution: This audio book!!! Everyone can join in, even the driver. The stories appeal to both adults and kids, and when you're laughing and listening to a good story, the long car trip seems like fun! My kids have the text copy, and like to read along at home.

Very Mixed Bag

I had presumed the negative reviews were exaggerating the inappropriate elements among these stories. While I am decidedly older than the target audience, the amusement I hoped to derive from these stories (and did in several cases), was exceeded by my serious discomfort over some of the painful incidents portrayed in others, especially the final story with the graphic description of the boy pulling a wart off of his foot with rusty pliers and the ensuing blood splatter. Glad my son was not listening along with me for that one.

Awesome super funny

This is so funny that your eyes will pop out. Awesome. The story is awesome all of them are cool. You should try this book

pertty good

narrator was amazing story was also very funny overall I give it 5 stars good

Beavis and Butthead

None of the stories were funny at all. It seemed like some of the stories were written by a writer that was on the team writer for Beavis & Butthead!