Jon Scieszka once again proves his expertise in humor and hooking boys on reading by choosing 10 hysterical stories, many of them written by the funniest children’s book writers in the field. The audio adds top names in narration. Their timing and tones make each story, whether slapstick or slightly disgusting, even stronger. The range of hilarity is wide. There’s Jack Gantos’s disgusting tale of inventive wart removal, David Yoo’s slightly spooky story of a boy who goes toe to claw with a homicidal turkey, and the dark humor of Kate DiCamillo and Jon Scieszka’s story of the correspondence between a jaded writer and an A-seeking student. A great family listen, this audio is guaranteed to get giggles and guffaws. S.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Utterly dude worthy. — Kirkus Reviews

A must-have collection for the boys in your library—and while you’re at it, get a copy for the girls, too! — Booklist (starred review)

Future volumes will cover such genres as nonfiction, science fiction, mystery, and sports. If they’re as good as this one, boys--and girls--are in for a treat. — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Funny Business, sets the bar high....Will have readers laughing as they turn the pages. — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

A must-have collection for the boys in your library—and while you’re at it, get a copy for the girls, too!

Funny Business, sets the bar high....Will have readers laughing as they turn the pages.

Utterly dude worthy.

A must-have collection for the boys in your library—and while you’re at it, get a copy for the girls, too!

Gr 5–8—Building on the success of Guys Write for Guys Read (Viking, 2005), Scieszka continues his mission to take the "reluctant" out of readers with this first volume of the "Guys Read Library." For this title, Scieszka invited some of today's top writers of children's fiction to contribute a humorous short story. Not surprisingly, the resulting compilation has something for everyone. Looking for a story heavy on the ick-factor? Suggest Jack Gantos's "The Bloody Souvenir," in which the Pagoda brothers return to wreak more havoc. David Yoo's "A Fistful of Feathers" features a bloodthirsty turkey intent on destroying the narrator's life. Eoin Colfer offers an autobiographical piece that shares how his younger brother was his real-life inspiration for Artemis Fowl. Kate DiCamillo and Scieszka team up to offer a hilarious correspondence between Joe and an author who knows how to hold her own with unmotivated students. While these shorter stories may not have the liveliness of the authors' full novels, each one is solid, and more importantly, it offers an introduction to that author's style and voice. Don't be surprised if students come seeking longer works by David Lubar, Christopher Paul Curtis, and other contributors after sampling them in this collection. Scieszka promises future volumes featuring other genres, among them nonfiction, sports, and action/adventure.—Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA

Jon Scieszka once again proves his expertise in humor and hooking boys on reading by choosing 10 hysterical stories, many of them written by the funniest children’s book writers in the field. The audio adds top names in narration. Their timing and tones make each story, whether slapstick or slightly disgusting, even stronger. The range of hilarity is wide. There’s Jack Gantos’s disgusting tale of inventive wart removal, David Yoo’s slightly spooky story of a boy who goes toe to claw with a homicidal turkey, and the dark humor of Kate DiCamillo and Jon Scieszka’s story of the correspondence between a jaded writer and an A-seeking student. A great family listen, this audio is guaranteed to get giggles and guffaws. S.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

"Your brain is doing some great work when it's laughing," states evangelist Scieszka in this humorous anthology, the first of a proposed Guys Read series that promises to cover a range of genres. Each tale is geared toward boys and sometimes relies on gross humor for laughs. "Will," by Adam Rex is a standout. Will attends a school for kids with super talents and hero abilities. When his class is attacked by a supervillian in a gadget-ridden exoskeleton, mayhem and the unexpected unfold, driven by quick-witted dialogue. On the flipside, "A Fistful of Feathers," by David Yoo, is a distressing tale in which Sam's dad has decided to make him less girly by buying him a live turkey that will be eaten on Thanksgiving. As Dad begins to favor the weirdly talented turkey over him, Sam's actions begin to verge on sociopathy. These tales are not for the faint of heart: The content doesn't shy away from dangerous stunts, damaged flesh, alien-body takeovers and switch-wielding grandpas. In other words, utterly dude worthy. (Short stories. 9-13)