Ain’t It Funny
by Margaret Gurevich
Intermediate, Middle School    Penguin Workshop    240 pp.
10/24    9780593659434    $17.99
e-book ed.  9780593659458    $10.99

Sixth grader Maya doesn’t know when the anxious thoughts and the “hot-hot-hot” feeling started, but ever since her dad moved out, they seem to have gotten worse. Her germaphobia makes school a challenge and makes working in her family’s deli, the Russian Gourmet, nearly unbearable. Maya tries explaining her discomfort to her family but is met by her babushka’s unsympathetic reminder: “Slozi goryu ne pomozhet,” or “tears won’t help sorrow.” When Maya’s standup-comedian father is asked to emcee her school’s talent show, Maya decides to perform her own comedy routine in hopes that the hours spent rehearsing with her dad, plus a successful performance, will bring her family back together again, thereby curing the hot-hot-hot. Gurevich balances the seriousness of Maya’s anxiety with laugh-out-loud humor. Alongside writing jokes and learning about comedy from her father, Maya witnesses a beloved teacher’s distressing emotional episode and is taught coping strategies by a school nurse and therapist. Maya’s story speaks directly to the stigma of mental health and the ways those attitudes can harm people of all ages. Readers familiar with Russian dishes may find their stomachs growling; luckily, the author includes recipes in the back matter.

From the ">January/February 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.