I Even Funnier: a Middle School Story (audiobook review)

Title: I Even Funnier a Middle School Story
Author: James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
Narrator: Frankie Seracth
Pub. Date: December 9 2013
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Length: 4 hrs

Audiobook Info:

In this follow up to the #1 New York Times bestseller I Funny, middle schooler Jamie Grimm has big dreams of being the best stand-up comic in the world--and he won't let the fact that he's wheelchair-bound stand in his way. After winning the New York state finals in the Planet's Funniest Kid Comic Contest, Jamie's off to Boston to compete in the national semi-finals. But when one of his best buddies runs into trouble at school and a sudden family health scare rears its head, Jamie has to put his comedic ambitions on hold and stand by the people he cares about. Can Jamie pass up the big competition for the sake of his friends and family? (Includes more than 175 black-and-white illustrations.)

Authors Info:
It is no surprise that in January, 2010, The New York Times Magazine featured James Patterson on its cover and hailed him as having "transformed book publishing," and that Time magazine hailed him as "The Man Who Can't Miss." Recently, NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams profiled Patterson's prolific career, AARP named him one of the "50 Most Influential People Who Make Our Days a Little Brighter," and Variety featured him in a cover story highlighting his adventures in Hollywood.
In 2011, it was estimated that one-in-four of all hardcover suspense/thriller novels sold was written by James Patterson, he is the first author to achieve five million ebook sales (and is expected to hit ten million in early 2013), and he holds the Guinness record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers of any author. And his success isn't based solely on thrillers like the perennially popular Alex Cross, Women's Murder Club and Michael Bennett series. Patterson is now also the current bestselling author in the young adult and middle grade categories.
He's been called the busiest man in publishing, and that's not just because of his own books. For the past decade, James has been devoting more and more of his time to championing books and reading. From the James Patterson Pageturner Awards, to his website ReadKiddoRead.com, to his College Book Bucks scholarships and his regular donations of hundreds of thousands of books to schools here in the states and troops overseas (see interviews on Fox & Friends, The Dennis Miller Radio Show and CNN.com), Patterson has passed on his passion of books and reading and supported those who do the same. Jim personally funded a major ad campaign re-printing a recent opinion piece on CNN.com about how it is our responsibility to get our kids reading. The ad has run in the New York Times, The New Yorker, and USA Today. Those ads are a call to action to parents to make their kids reading a top priority; and were featured by USA Today here. Patterson believes that we cannot rely on schools, teachers or the government to get our kids reading; only parents can make this crucial change in the reading habits of our kids. Here are links to some interviews on his first-ever dual lay down (two books, one for parents and one for kids, in one day): AOL's You've Got, NBC's "Today Show" with Hoda and Kathie Lee, USA Today and Family Circle, NBC's "Today Show" with Al Roker, as well as an interview with AARP.

Chris Grabenstein is the co-author with James Patterson of the #1 New York Times Bestseller I FUNNY. He is also an award-winning author of books for children and adults, a playwright, screenwriter, and former advertising executive and improvisational comedian. Winner of two Anthony and three Agatha Awards, Chris used to write for Jim Henson's Muppets, was president of the New York Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America, and co-wrote the screenplay for the CBS-TV movie The Christmas Gift starring John Denver. Chris lives in New York City with his wife, three cats, and a rescue dog named Fred, who starred on Broadway in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. You can visit Chris (and Fred) at www.ChrisGrabenstein.com



My Review:
So this audiobook for me was ok but it wasnt great. The audiobook has some nice moments but overall I was really disappointed. The title of the book is I even funnier but I think thats where the problem with the book inlies its not very funny sadly. I mean the characters are likeable and you root for some of them (like Uncle Frankie, who was my favorite character) but when the jokes and some of the situations turn you off from the book, that short of defeats its whole propose. I give you some examples of what I am talking about:
 1. Jamie (the main character) is in a wheelchair and he tells jokes about being handicapped, yes he is kind of making fun of himself but things like that can get kind of tochy and I dont think its good tase to put jokes like that in.
2.Then when Jamie is at the competition he meets the kids he is going to compete against, one of them is a son of a famous comic and they make up the comic names and the sons name but they reference a certain actual movie that this famous comic was in and from that mention you can figure out who the person he is refering to is in real life. These two characters are not protrayed in a nice light and it makes you wonder what the authors have against this person.
3. There is a chapter where Rafe (his other Middle School character) comes into this story for like a second. I think it doesnt make sense and was distracting.

Narration: The narration was antoher disapointment. The narrator has a nice tone and is animated but doesnt give the characters different voices, I mean he does somewhat but they all still sound like him there is not much distinction. I understand why they chose a young person to read this book to make it sound more authenic (or try to) but I think a more experienced audio book reader might have done better.

My final verdict:
Overall as I said above I think this book was ok but it was lacking and in the end I would not recommend it.

I would like to thank Mitch from Hachette for letting me listen to and review this audiobook.