Pretty Funny for a Girl by Rebecca Elliott Pages: 384
Published by Peachtree Publishing Company on October 1, 2020
Genres: contemporary, Young Adult
Source: Paperback ARC from Publisher
A candid and laugh-out-loud journey of family, friends, and fierce mistakes.
Haylah Swinton is an ace best friend, a loving daughter, and an incredibly patient sister to a four-year-old nutcase of a brother. Best of all, she's pretty confident she's mastered making light of every situation--from her mom's new boyfriend to unsolicited remarks on her plus-sized figure. Haylah's learning to embrace all of her curvy parts and, besides, she has a secret: one day, she'll be a stand-up comedian star.
So when impossibly cool and thirstalicious Leo reveals he's also into comedy, Haylah jumps at the chance to ghost-write his sets. But is Leo as interested in returning the favor? Even though her friends warn her of Leo's intentions, Haylah's not ready to listen--and she might just be digging herself deeper toward heartbreak. If Haylah's ever going to step into the spotlight, first she'll need to find the confidence to put herself out there and strut like the boss she really is.
Rebecca Elliott's hilarious and authentic narrative voice is sure to capture readers' hearts as her plus-sized, teenage heroine navigates learning to love the body she's in while dealing with friends, family, and boys.
Pretty Funny for a Girl is a young adult contemporary by Rebecca Elliott. This book completely captured my heart. I fell in love with Haylah hard core and watching her journey was heartwarming and completely satisfying! This book gave me total Confessions of Georgia Nicolson vibes, which was one of my favorite series from my middle school/high school days (knocked out by my nunga-nungas, Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal-Snogging) Haylah is just as funny as Georgia, and I think will be perfect for teenage girls to relate to. Not to mention, she is completely hilarious!
In Pretty Funny for a Girl we meet our main character Haylah, who is known as Pig to her friends. Haylah is in high school and she has always wanted to be a comedian, so when she sees the boy she has a crush, Leo, on doing stand up comedy at a school assembly, she decides to start leaving him anonymous jokes in his locker. I absolutely loved this idea! I thought it was adorable. When Leo discovers she is the mystery joke writer, he decides to team up with her to write his young comics competition set. I loved how much comedy and joke telling was an actual part of this novel. The author does a great job of telling us the jokes, which I loved. Haylah keeps a diary of sorts…just of the funny stuff in her life, not any of the boring stuff. And seeing how she tells stories and writes jokes was such a wonderful way to break up the day to day plot of the story. Not to mention Haylah had me laughing out loud so many times I lost count while reading.
Watching Haylah gain self- confidence and self-esteem was a highlight of my reading experience for Pretty Funny for a Girl. Haylah is a full figured teen and she totally owns it. I freakin’ love her so much. Not only is she genuinely funny, but she is so relatable and such a great well rounded (no pun intended) character. Pretty Funny for a Girl has a bit of romance in it as well, but it is much more focused on Haylah’s jouney than on the romance, which is exactly what I wanted. I am not giving any spoilers in that department but I have strong feelings for a certain character. View Spoiler »
Bottom line: If you are looking for a laugh out loud funny young adult contemporary that is focused on character growth then I think Pretty Funny for a Girl is a book that you need to check out. I think you will fall in love with Haylah, and you will be rooting for her from page one. I know I was. This book works really well as a standalone, but I would also love to see more from Haylah and her friends! Pretty Funny for a Girl is a hilarious story that also sends a really wonderful message to teens.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2020 New Release Challenge
i, for one, could use a book like this. great review and it makes me want to read it. your have accomplished your mission 🙂
sherry @ fundinmental