Crying Laughing by Lance Rubin ISBN: 9780525644705
Published by Random House Children's Books on August 3, 2021
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Pages: 336
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A tragicomic story of bad dates, bad news, bad performances, and one girl's determination to find the funny in high school from the author of Denton Little's Deathdate.
Winnie Friedman has been waiting for the world to catch on to what she already knows: she's hilarious.
It might be a long wait, though. After bombing a stand-up set at her own bat mitzvah, Winnie has kept her jokes to herself. Well, to herself and her dad, a former comedian and her inspiration.
Then, on the second day of tenth grade, the funniest guy in school actually laughs at a comment she makes in the lunch line and asks her to join the improv troupe. Maybe he's even . . . flirting?
Just when Winnie's ready to say yes to comedy again, her father reveals that he's been diagnosed with ALS. That is . . . not funny. Her dad's still making jokes, though, which feels like a good thing. And Winnie's prepared to be his straight man if that's what he wants. But is it what he needs?
Caught up in a spiral of epically bad dates, bad news, and bad performances, Winnie's struggling to see the humor in it all. But finding a way to laugh is exactly what will see her through.
**A Junior Library Guild Selection**
I enjoy comedy (standup, improv, and sketch), but I haven’t made a study of it so some of the references in this book flew over my head. But most of this book hit right in the feels.
Winnie’s voice feels authentic to a typical smart teen (with anxiety) and I loved her family’s dynamic. In particular, I was cracking up at Mr. Martinez’s mixed-signals message (which was so spot-on to a lot of the performances I had in high school marching band, drama, etc.) and related heavily to Winnie’s own sense of being adrift when her home life began to fall apart.
And the whole romance felt on-key as well (sadly, not just for the teenage experience, but for anyone who has been in a relationship where they were ‘more successful’ than their partner).
It’s (thankfully) not that much of a tearjerker, and it’s not a downer book at all. So overall, I recommend it for fans of contemporary YA.
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