At first, my YA novel Denton Little’s Deathdate was written in the third-person. It
didn’t feel quite right, though, so I quickly made the
switch to the first-person and never looked back.
I’ve always loved a first-person narrator.
It makes me feel like I’m hanging out with my most uninhibited friend. And if
this friend is funny, I’m even more likely to keep reading.
Here, in no particular order, are my ten
favorite funny first-person narrators. There are many other great ones I don’t
have room for, and undoubtedly many more that I have yet to read, but this is a
good place to start.
1. The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon
Christopher John Francis Boone, the
15-year-old autistic narrator of this book, lets the reader know right up top:
“This will not be a funny book.” And yet, as Christopher tries to solve the
mystery of his neighbor’s murdered dog, he’s often quite funny, his literal thought
patterns hitting upon hilarious truths about the world. As readers, we’re never
laughing at Christopher, though; Haddon
helps us fully inhabit Christopher’s mind and come to understand the unique and
inadvertently amusing way it operates.
2. Tyrell,
by Coe Booth
With his dad in jail and his family in a
homeless shelter, Tyrell’s had no choice but to develop a thick skin. As the
reader, though, we know he’s way more vulnerable and big-hearted than he might
let on, and his candid and astute observations about life made me laugh so much.
His feelings about Novisha, his girlfriend, and Jasmine, a girl he meets at the
homeless shelter, crackle with humor because they feel so embarrassingly true
to how a teenage boy actually thinks. It’s easily one of the most authentic teen
love triangles I’ve ever read.
3. Are
You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
I finally read this last year, and I’m
sorry I waited so long. Margaret Simon is such a relatable character—smart,
honest, neurotic—and her experience of entering adolescence is as awkward as
anybody’s, which is comforting. Not to mention funny. One of my favorite lines
is Margaret’s description of her current crush: “It’s not so much that I like
him as a person, God, but as a boy he’s very handsome.” A super read for girls and boys alike.
4. Me
and Earl and the Dying Girl, by Jesse Andrews
“I have no idea how to write this stupid
book.” So begins this laugh-out-loud-the-entire-time novel, narrated by the
smart, sweet, and self-deprecating Greg Gaines. Whether he’s making bad movies
with his funny, angry best friend Earl or being forced by his mom to get to
know Rachel, a high school classmate who has cancer, I was always amused by
Greg’s perspective on things. Which is why, by the end, it was even more of a
gut punch when I found myself so moved.
5. The
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, art by
Ellen Forney
This book wowed me in the way its narrator
Junior is able to keep a sense of humor even when he has every reason to feel
furious with the world. (“My parents came from poor people who came from poor
people who came from poor people, all the way back to the very first poor
people. Adam and Eve covered their privates with fig leaves; the first Indians
covered their privates with their tiny
hands.”) It turns out that sense of humor is the very thing allowing Junior
to cope, a point which is further driven home by his sharp and hilarious
cartoon drawings that blend seamlessly with Alexie’s writing.
6. Better
Nate than Ever, by Tim Federle
Nate Foster is another endlessly lovable
underdog, a Broadway-obsessed outsider in his (perfectly-named) town of
Jankburg, Pennsylvania who takes a secret journey to New York City to audition
for E.T.: The Musical. Nate’s genuine
wit sparkles on every page (regarding a shady stranger: “For a moment I wonder
what the best way will be to make myself throw up on him when he tries to kill
me”), and it’s beyond heartwarming to experience his discovery of a world where
he finally feels like he belongs.
7. The
Wrong Side of Right, by Jenn Marie Thorne
Less than a year after Kate Quinn’s mother
passes away, she learns the father she never met is the Republican candidate
for U.S. President. Kate ends up joining him on the campaign trail, and her wry,
very human reactions to this crazy, high-stakes situation (regarding her
yearbook photo being used on the news: “Because there I was, looking half
homeless, dirty hair thrown into a ponytail, dead eyes, splotchy skin, strained
smile. On national television.”) are what make this book such a satisfying
read.
8. Grasshopper
Jungle, by Andrew Smith
This wholly original book is about six-foot-tall
praying mantises that wreak havoc on an Iowa town. But narrator Austin Szerba’s
unique way of documenting such a strange history—drily referring to people as
“real dynamos,” for example, as he simultaneously grapples with his own sexual
confusion (he may or may not be falling in love with his best friend Robbie)--grounds
the insanity, elicits the laughs, and elevates this book to classic status.
9. Simon
Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, by Becky Albertalli
A mere five pages into this book, I already
felt like Simon Spier was my best friend. He’s smart, self-aware, droll, and kind,
and we get to know him further through his emails to Blue, the guy whose identity
he doesn’t know even though they’ve been courting each other for months. Both
Simon and Blue are not out of the closet, so when a classmate sees Simon’s
emails and threatens to reveal his secret to the school, everything quickly
unravels. All the characters feel completely real, but especially Simon, who
charms from cover to cover.
10. The
Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
To say this book was ahead of its time is
an understatement, as you can trace the current crop of voice-driven contemporary
YA right back to it. I remember laughing out loud during study hall as Holden
Caulfield describes his encounter with his teacher Mr. Spencer. (“Old guys’
legs, at beaches and places, always look so white and unhairy.”) Somehow, sixty-four years after the book was
first published, Holden’s voice still feels relevant and cathartic. Seeing as
there will always be plenty of phonies in the world, I’m sure it will continue
to be.
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