Humorous Fiction for Upper ES

Cover Image Title Summary Author/ Location

A House Called Awful End (and sequels)

Eleven­year­old Eddie Dickens's life becomes one long adventure after his parents are stricken with a strange disease and he is sent to stay with Mad Uncle Jack and Even Madder Aunt Maud at their home, Awful End.

Ardagh F (Hum) ARD

A Tale Dark & Grimm ( series)

Follows Hansel and Gretel as they

walk out of their own story and into

eight more tales, encountering such

wicked creatures as witches, along

with kindly strangers and other

helpful folk. Based in part on the

Grimms' fairy tales Faithful

Johannes, Hansel and Gretel, The

seven ravens, Brother and sister,

The robber bridegroom, and The

devil and his three golden hairs .

Gidwitz F (Hum) GID

Big Nate (series)

Supremely confident middle school

student Nate Wright manages to

make getting detention from every

one of his teachers in the same day

seem like an achievement.

Peirce F (Hum) PEI

Cosmic (Also try MILLIONS by this

author)

Being abnormally tall gives

twelve­year­old Liam opportunities

denied to most boys his age,

including driving a Porsche, winning

a "best dad" competition and

undergoing astronaut training for a

rocket trip to the moon.

Cottrell F (Hum) COT

Demon Dentist

(and other books by this author)

Darkness had come to the town. Strange things were happening in the dead of night. Children would put a tooth under their pillow for the tooth fairy, but in the morning they would wake up to find… a dead slug; a live spider; hundreds of earwigs creeping and crawling beneath their pillow. Evil was at work. But who or what was behind it…?

Walliams

F (Hum) WAL

Diary of a Killer Cat Tuffy the pet cat tries to defend himself against accusations of terrifying other animals and murdering the neighbor's rabbit.

Fine

F (Pri) FIN

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series)

Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take drastic measures to save their friendship.

Kinney

F (Hum) KIN

Doctor Proctor’s Fart

Powder

(and sequel)

New friends Nilly and Lisa help eccentric professor Doctor Proctor to develop his latest invention, a powder that makes one fart, making them very popular at school, but someone is planning to steal the industrial­strength formula for evil purposes.

Nesbo

F (Hum) NES

Double Fudge His younger brother's obsession

with money and the discovery of

long­lost cousins Flora and Fauna

provide many embarrassing

moments for twelve­year­old

Peter.

Blume

F (Real) BLU

Dragonbreath

( series) Danny Dragonbreath and his friend Wendell get an up­close underwater tour of the Sargasso Sea from Danny's sea­serpent cousin, encountering giant squid and mako sharks­­and learn about standing up to bullies in the process.

Vernon

F (Hum) VER

Dying to Meet You

(43 Old Cemetery Road

series)

In this story told mostly through letters, children's book author, I. B. Grumply, gets more than he bargained for when he rents a quiet place to write for the summer.

Klise

F (Hum) KLI

Flawed Dogs After being framed by a jealous poodle, a dachshund is left for dead, but comes back with a group of mutts from the National Last Ditch Dog Depository to disrupt the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club dog show and exact revenge on Cassius the poodle.

Breathed

F (Anim) BRE

I Funny Jamie Grimm tries to win the Planet's Funniest Kid Comic Contest, while also dealing with his stepfamily, friends, and a school bully.

Patterson

F (Hum) PAT

I'm Trapped in My Gym

Teacher’s Body

A freak accident causes Jake Sherman to switch bodies with school's gym teacher.

Strasser F (Fant) STR

I, Jack Jack, a Labrador Retriever, tells about his daily life of food, walks, and the "apedogs" and "funny­looking dogs" (cats) in his pack, as well as how everything changes when a pretty girl dog moves into the neighborhood. Includes explanatory footnotes written by the cats.

Finney

F (Anim) FIN

Jack on the Tracks (and sequels)

Moving with his unbearable sister to

Miami, Florida, Jack tries to break

some of his bad habits but finds

himself irresistibly drawn to things

disgusting, gross, and weird.

Gantos

F (Hum) GAN

Just Jake

( series) Middle schooler Jake Ali Mathews

and his family move from Florida to

Maryland and Jake must start at the

bottom of the social ladder once

again, but he is determined to make

friends and get back on top with the

help of his box of "kid cards" and

his natural "awesomeness."

Marcionette

F (Hum) MAR

Knights of the Kitchen

Table

(Time Warp Trio series)

When Joe, Fred, and Sam are sent

back in time by a magic book, they

find themselves face­to­face with

giants, dragons, wizards, and the

Knights of the Round Table.

Scieszka F (Hum) SCI

Let’s Pretend This Never

Happened

(Dear Dumb Diary series)

Middle school student, Jamie Kelly,

writes all the strange and

sometimes not so wonderful things

that happens to her or she sees

during school in her diary and

promises that everything she writes

is as true as she wants it to be.

Benton

F (Hum) BEN

Matilda

(Also try other books by this author)

Matilda applies her untapped

mental powers to rid the school of

the evil, child­hating headmistress,

Miss Trunchbull, and restore her

nice teacher, Miss Honey, to

financial security.

Dahl

F (Fant) DAH

Miss Child Has Gone

Wild

(My Weird School series)

A.J. and his fellow third­graders

from Ella Mentry School, including

new student Alexia, go on a field

trip to the zoo, where they meet a

very strange zookeeper.

Gutman

F (Hum) GUT

Mistakes Were Made (Timmy Failure series)

Meet Timmy Failure, the founder, president, and CEO of the best detective agency in town, probably the nation. And his lazy sidekick, Total, a 1,500­pound polar bear.

Pastis F (Mys) PAS

My Teacher is an Alien (and others in the series)

Susan and the class "brain" must prevent their extra­terrestrial substitute teacher from taking the entire sixth grade to another planet.

Coville F (Fant) COV

Origami Yoda ( series)

Sixth­grader Tommy and his friends describe their interactions with a paper finger puppet of Yoda, worn by their weird classmate Dwight, as they try to figure out whether or not the puppet can really predict the future. Includes instructions for making Origami Yoda.

Angelberger F (Hum) ANG

Revenge of the Itty­Bitty Brothers

When Daniel learns to control his shrinking, Pablo, his tiny twin, writes a list of fun things they can do, including riding in a model rocket near the La Brea Tar Pits, which teaches the brothers the importance of sticking together.

Oliver F (Hum) OLI

Sideways Stories from Wayside School ( and sequels) )

Humorous episodes from the classroom on the thirtieth floor of Wayside School, which was accidentally built sideways with one classroom on each story.

Sachar F (Hum) SAC

Snarf Attack (The Riot Brothers series)

Contains three stories in which brothers and best friends Wilbur and Orville Riot catch a thief, overthrow a king, and find a treasure, and includes rules to some of their made­up games.

Amato F (Hum) AMA