Book Review: Girls for Breakfast

Title: Girls for Breakfast
Author: David Yoo
Genre: YA Fiction (Humor)
Rating: A

Abbreviated Summary (from BN.com): "Drumstick legs, cherry-colored lips, dumpling cheeks . . . everything about them he wants to eat up. But he’s dateless and has been since he discovered girls in the third grade, and he’s convinced himself that this is solely based on the fact that he’s the only Korean American teenager in Renfield—the fifth richest (and WASPiest) town in Connecticut. In Nick’s mind, he sticks out like a banana in a wheat field. And now it’s time for him to figure it out once and for all. Is it all in his head or are his suspicions that his heritage is keeping him from a triumphant boob fest true?"

Review: This book was seriously, 100% laugh out loud funny. I have this habit of carrying my books around with me and reading them while I'm walking around on campus, to and from classes, but I couldn't do this with Girls for Breakfast because I was making a fool of myself laughing too hard. Here's an excerpt to give you a taste:

"What confused me about involuntarily visualizing Miss Hamilton with no clothes on was that she wasn’t even pretty. Her nose was pointy and her frizzy hair always looked sweaty, but I couldn’t stop picturing her naked. I also couldn’t stop picturing Martha the bus driver naked every time I stepped on the bus. I was a perverted Superman... I glared at Miss Hamilton’s breasts and shook a fist at her bare butt as she faced the chalkboard. I knew in my heart I’d beat this disease."

Seriously, this was funny. Plus, this comes after he's made up this whole new form of martial arts because his friends in WASP-y Connecticut think that because he's Asian he must be a kung fu master. Upon reading this book I realized that writing truly funny stuff is equally as challenging as writing dramatic stuff. Eliciting a visceral reaction of laughter is just as note-worthy as getting a reader to cry.

I gave the book an A, couldn't quite pull off an A+ because the story line drags at parts, in my opinion (granted the jokes keep coming), but you know where Nick Park is going to end up, but it just takes him so long to get there. It was a fast and easy read (and his parents are hilarious). I recommend this book to people that can appreciate sophomoric humor.