Life Is Funny — E.R. Frank

“Because life is funny,” Gingerbread tells Keisha when she asks why he laughs so much. The thing is, until she falls in love with him, Keisha doesn't see what's so funny -- in her life or anyone else's in Brooklyn, New York.

There is Eric, fiercely protective of his little brother, Mickey. To the rest of the world, he is simply fierce. To Linnette, whose parents have taken him in as a foster child, he's an intruder in her life -- until a look through a keyhole reveals both Eric's past and his future.

Then there are Grace and Sam, whose dreams come true because they were lucky enough to be born beautiful. Sonia, who struggles to live the life of a good Muslim girl in a foreign America. And Gingerbread and Keisha, who fall in love despite themselves.

Life Is Funny strips away the everyday defenses of one group of teenagers living today, right now -- and shows their unbearably real lives.