Funny Business: Conversations with Writers of Comedy compiled and edited by Leonard S. Marcus

Marcus, Leonard S., ed. Funny Business: Conversations with Writers of Comedy, 209 pgs. Candlewick Press, 2009. $21.00. Questions you’ve always wondered about your favorite children’s authors are answered. Editor Leonard S. Marcus asks personal and literary questions to each author in their own section in a Q & A format. Photocopies of manuscripts and pictures of the authors as children and current photographs are interspersed and give a personal flair to the sections. My favorite photograph was of Lieutenant John Scieszka as a high school senior. The authors included are (in order): Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, Sharon Creech, Christopher Paul Curtis, Anne Fine, Daniel Handler, Carl Hiaasen, Norton Juster, Dick King-Smith, Hilary McKay, Daniel Pinkwater, Louis Sachar, and John Scieszka. This multi-author biography would be an excellent choice for students writing reports about authors. EL – ADVISABLE. Samantha, Public Librarian.