Funny books

Where are all the funny books? What -- people don't like to laugh anymore? And teens, in particular. I mean, have you read any teen fiction lately? It's all about angst, abuse, and anger. I just read Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary D. Schmidt. It's a Newbery Honor book and a Printz Honor book, and there are 5 deaths in it, including two father figures and a best friend. Geez, you think maybe we could all just lighten up a little?

So, here is my list of books that are actually fun to read:
First, since I picked on him, is Gary D. Schmidt's newest book, The Wednesday Wars. It's great. It's funny and smart and has a boy protagonist. Eleven-year-olds and up should enjoy this story about how one kid starts to make sense of the world in 1968.

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex is also great fun. Tip and her alien friend J.Lo (he just likes the sound of it so he gave himself the name) take a road trip across America in the wake of an alien invasion. Also for eleven-and-up.

The Wee Free Men, by Terry Pratchit, is brilliant! Tiffany Aching is smart and self-assured, with a good head for cheese and a great vocabulary. She is also overwhelmed by a tribe of 6-inch-tall wild men who want to help her save the world.

For adults, Good Omens, also by Terry Pratchit with Neil Gaiman, is a total hoot. It's time for the Apocalypse, but somehow the Anti-Christ has gotten misplaced. Someone's head's going to roll over that, I can tell you!

And doggone-it -- read Pride and Prejudice! It is the ultimate romantic comedy. Cute young woman meets handsome man; gross misunderstanding at the beginning; tentative friendship derailed by obnoxious friends and relatives; ends in wedding bells. Nora Ephron couldn't have done it better! Jane Austen is the snarkiest!

Well, that gets us started anyway. What are your picks for when you just need a good laugh?