Life is Funny

Author: E. R. Frank

First line: At first Ebony and I don't want to, but then her mom, Ms. Giles, says she'll pay us, and we say okay because Ebony's twin sisters' day care isn't that far, plus it's across the street from McDonald's.

Why you should read this book: A series of interconnected stories told from the perspectives of a loosely connected group of teenagers follows their joys and sorrows, frustrations and solutions, over a span of seven years. Themes of drug abuse, self-harm, sexuality, physical violence, and the strand of hope that keeps them living to fight another day weave themselves through the book, as each character becomes fully realized through their own account and their friends' descriptions of them. Each life is unique, and while the characters may not always recognize their own strengths or understand their choices, the reader can also take away a message of determination and perseverance.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't believe that sex, drugs, and violence are appropriate subjects for adolescents, who must be protected from knowledge of these distant concepts, which they will never encounter in their everyday lives.