546 ratings | 12 reviews | avg rating:3.97

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Karla’s Friends (56)

Renée

4,980 books | 111 friends

Jacqie

3,703 books | 97 friends

J Burton

2,493 books | 66 friends

Jessie

2,077 books | 43 friends

Gretchen Lida

1,276 books | 160 friends

Julie Rowan-Zoch

820 books | 198 friends

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1 book | 369 friends

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Karla Oceanak

Goodreads Author

Born

Red Wing, Minnesota, The United States

Website

http://www.aldozelnick.com

Genre

Children's Books, Humor, Comics & Graphic Novels

Influences

Astrid Lindgren, Roald Dahl, Tina Fey, David Sedaris, Dr. Seuss, [a:Ch ...more

Member Since

August 2008

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Karla Oceanak is the author of the Aldo Zelnick Comic Novel Series, which has been honored with a Colorado Book Award, a Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Regional Book Award, an IndieNext selection, and other accolades. She has worked as a writer and editor for more than twenty years and has authored more than 100 books, some of which have been translated into Chinese, Korean, and Hebrew. Karla and her husband, Scott, live in Colorado with their three teenage boys in a house strewn with ping-pong balls, cell phone chargers, video games, books, and dirty socks.

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Karla Oceanak’s books

Average rating: 4.11 · 1,206 ratings · 281 reviews · 37 distinct works • Similar authors

	Goodnight Brew: A Parody for Beer People by Karla Oceanak (Goodreads Author), Allie Ogg (Illustrator) 4.19 avg rating — 269 ratings — published 2014 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Goodnight Unicorn: A Magical Parody by Karla Oceanak (Goodreads Author), Kendra Spanjer (Goodreads Author) (Illustrations) 4.15 avg rating — 181 ratings — published 2016 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Artsy-Fartsy by Karla Oceanak (Goodreads Author), Kendra Spanjer (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator) 3.86 avg rating — 186 ratings — published 2009 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bogus: Book 2 (The Aldo Zelnick Comic Novel Series, 2) by Karla Oceanak (Goodreads Author), Kendra Spanjer (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator) 4.11 avg rating — 70 ratings — published 2010 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dumbstruck: Book 4 (The Aldo Zelnick Comic Novel Series, 4) by Karla Oceanak (Goodreads Author), Kendra Spanjer (Goodreads Author) 4.13 avg rating — 55 ratings — published 2011 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Egghead: Book 5 (The Aldo Zelnick Comic Novel Series, 5) by Karla Oceanak (Goodreads Author), Kendra Spanjer (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator) 4.35 avg rating — 51 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cahoots: Book 3 (The Aldo Zelnick Comic Novel Series, 3) by Karla Oceanak (Goodreads Author), Kendra Spanjer (Goodreads Author) (Illustrator) 3.81 avg rating — 54 ratings — published 2011 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Goodnight Mermaid by Karla Oceanak (Goodreads Author), Allie Ogg (Illustrator) 3.72 avg rating — 50 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hotdogger: Book 8 (The Aldo Zelnick Comic Novel Series, 8) by Karla Oceanak (Goodreads Author), Kendra Spanjer (Goodreads Author) (Illustrations) 4.24 avg rating — 38 ratings — published 2013 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Finicky: Book 6 (The Aldo Zelnick Comic Novel Series, 6) by Karla Oceanak (Goodreads Author), Kendra Spanjer (Goodreads Author) (Illustrations) 4.17 avg rating — 35 ratings — published 2012 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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6 posts
Karla Oceanak's Blog

Don't be a big fat chicken

I bought this art glass chicken when I moved into my studio about four years ago. I had a new space, a new desk, and lots of new bookshelves. Filling the shelves wouldn't be hard, what with the billions of books I hoard. But instead of shoehorning in nothing but books, I indulged my nesting instinct and made room for a few additional objects on the shelves, such as photos of my kids and an hourgl Read more of this blog post »

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Published on May 28, 2013 09:35

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Series by Karla Oceanak

Aldo Zelnick (12 books)
by

Karla Oceanak (Goodreads Author),

Kendra Spanjer (Goodreads Author) (Illustrations)

4.05 avg rating — 575 ratings

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Karla’s Recent Updates

Karla Oceanak liked that Lexi voted for Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection in the 2025 Goodreads Choice Awards. Readers' Favorite Nonfiction Readers' Favorite Nonfiction ...more
Nov 14, 2025 06:07AM
Karla Oceanak voted for James as Readers' Favorite Historical Fiction in the Final Round of the 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards. Cast Your Vote
Nov 29, 2024 10:50AM · like

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Quotes by Karla Oceanak (?)

“own awesomeness. I was in Hawaii with Jack and Bee and Mr.”
― Karla Oceanak, Hotdogger: Book 8

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“Goosy is my grandma. Her real name is Lucy. When I was little, I couldn’t say Grandma Lucy, so I called her Goosy. Now everybody calls her that. I guess you’d say it’s her nickname. Goosy thinks I’m artistic just because I drew a few cute pictures when I was little. Also, one day when I was coloring, I put a pair of underwear on my head. Goosy thought it looked like I was wearing an artist’s hat, so she took a picture of me. (WHY did I put underwear on my head? I don’t remember! I was only 3, for crying out loud!)”
― Karla Oceanak, Artsy-Fartsy: Book 1

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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The Lost Challenges: The Knight of Vegetables	77	107	Jan 04, 2021 12:20PM
The Lost Challenges: 2020 A-Z Authors	102	66	Jan 04, 2021 01:25PM
NonFiction Pulitzers: Debbie L 2020 Reading Challege	178	50	Jan 10, 2021 10:09AM
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Karla’s Quotes

“It's the great mystery of human life that old grief passes gradually into quiet tender joy.”
― Fyodor Dostoevsky

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Karla’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-2) post a comment »

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message 2: by Karla

Aug 06, 2015 02:16PM

Jacqie wrote: "Hi Karla,
I have a friend, Sarah Wernsing, who writes and would love an introduction, if you're still interested in a collaboration. Sarah works as an academic advisor in the English department an..."

Sure! Give her my email! oceanak@comcast.net Our writers' group is also seeking an additional member or two.

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message 1: by Jacqie

Aug 06, 2015 02:08PM

Hi Karla,
I have a friend, Sarah Wernsing, who writes and would love an introduction, if you're still interested in a collaboration. Sarah works as an academic advisor in the English department and has a master's degree in English herself. I know her from her time in the book store. She's pretty awesome! Is it okay to give her some contact information or would you like her contact info?

Jacqie

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Karla Oceanak's Blog

Don't be a big fat chicken

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