Laugh Out Loud

by James Patterson, Chris Grabenstein, Jeff Ebbeler (Illustrations)

Get ready to Laugh Out Loud (a lot!) with James Patterson's newest illustrated middle grade story! Jimmy loves reading so much that he's inspired to start a book company for kids-run by kids. It's a big dream for a twelve-year-old boy-some would even say it's laugh-out-loud ridiculous! But that doesn't stop Jimmy from dreaming even bigger! His company will be as imaginative and fun as Willy Wonka's chocolate factory...with a Ferris wheel instead of an elevator, a bowling alley in the break room, and a river filled with floating books! He just has to believe in himself and his idea. (And maybe win the Lotto.) In this hilarious story filled with clever references to children's book favorites, James Patterson shows young readers that anything can be achieved if you believe in yourself no matter what!

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Childrens, Middle Grade, Audiobook, Juvenile

ebook

Published July 24, 2017

About the author

Official US Site
Official UK Site
JIMMY Patterson Books
ReadKiddoRead

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

Reviews

[Esutterlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those of us who Love the I, Funny series will really like this story.
Set in SAN JOSE, California, where the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial spirit and examples are legendary, this story is about a young middle school student who loves to read. Jimmy recommends books to his friends, but, through a spiraling number of attempts to start his own business, seizes on the idea of launching a kid-run book factory out of a garage, with the idea that he will become rich through making his own book company.
Short chapters go from one minor misadventure to another, while his parents face repercussions with their employers and the IRS as his business scheme grows. Interactions with school librarians, teachers, and friends make this a funny middle school story to appeal to readers of the Big Nate series or Patterson's and Grabenstein's books. Middle School titles are "name-dropped" freely; hopefully some of this book's readers will follow up and read more widely as a result?
Sunny California's rare downpour of rain foils Jimmy's plans, seriously impacting his inventory, but the plucky guy's spirits do not dampen.
Spoiler alert: What comes next?
Jimmy boldly pitches his kids' book company project to a billionaire couple's company in Marin County which fund startup businesses. When they find out (by coincidence) that a favorite niece is one of Jimmy's ardent supporters, they fund his project. Jimmy's family will build a new book production facility for kids that's run by kids and started by kids, on the condition that he change the name from "Laugh out Loud" to "Jimmy Books," because the funders state, basically, that the new company's mission to make sure children are having fun reading is "too important" to promote as a laughing matter.

[Some Nerd · Rating 1 out of 5]

Where do I even begin?

This is a blatant example of author self-indulgence that doubles as an advertisement for James Patterson's Jimmy books. "Real world" expies of characters in the many middle-grade James Patterson books abound, along with gratuitous references to other, better books that Patterson and his ghostwriters took no part in writing.

Compared with every book that was referenced over the course of this story, the plot of Laugh Out Loud was vapid and completely over-the-top in the worst possible way. The protagonist would often veer off into a random, silly tangent right in the middle of narration. I had the pleasure of reading about aliens, a Harry Potter fantasy, and two stock caricatures of unsupportive parents suddenly doing a complete 180 and making reckless, out-of-character decisions in order to create tension in the second act.

On top of that, pretty much every character with a disability was presented atrociously; Jamie Grimm's real world counterpart was a stranger who provided Jimmy with some blatant inspiration porn exactly once, and Maddie's seemed more like a plot device than a person.

If I could have every copy of this book drenched in a freak California rainstorm without looking like a deranged lunatic, I would do it in a heartbeat, but this is real life, so I'll have to settle for advising Goodreads users against wasting their time on this. It's not even funny. The book is called "Laugh Out Loud" and it isn't funny. Let that sink in. Then go pick literally any other Jimmy series in your local bookstore and read that instead.

[Sely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes Jimmy, give me another book please!

[Trish Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

love these cute little books

[Millie Hodgson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good at the start but then I started to get a bit bored near the end.

[Nazee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this one with the kids and they both rated it 5/5!

[Jeslyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read with Bry! He rates it 5⭐️.

[Kendall Crowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is great. I like this book because its about a boy dreaming about having a kids book company. He goes through a lot of trouble but finally gets the money to build it.

[Jonna VanWienen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book was like hanging out with a good friend. I loved the story and how every Jimmy book that I have read was revealed. I loved the quest of the kids to make their dreams come true. I also laughed at the parents trying to rekindle their dreams, the IRS, the Lucky Charms eating billionaires, etc. that make it fun for an adult to read. I'm grateful that there are books like these that I can put in the hands of readers.

[Moon · Rating 1 out of 5]

THERE IS THE DAB IN IT


NO DABBING IN BOOKS
NOT ALLOWED
BROKE THE RULES
0/10
0/5
0/1
0/100
0/10000000000
0/3.14159
0/1000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0/9001
0/420

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY


D O N ' T D A B

[Will Leckrone · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was easily Patterson’s worst book.

[AK 김 승 주 · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting story of how Jimmy created his own book company, it will make you LOL.
Lots of easter eggs from other books by James Patterson.

[Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just an advertisement of Patterson's other children's and teen books. So awful. At least the illustrations were decent.

[ntosi28 · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is amazing I love this book kids that a have a dream should read this.

[Beth Bauman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm, it wasn't terrible. It was pretty intensely unrealistic though, for a book about a kid fighting against real-life barriers of fulfilling his dream. Like, INCREDIBLY unrealistic. And I feel like a hypocrite complaining about that, because fiction is all about the unrealistic and the fantastical: that is why we love fiction! It was just so jarring in a book that is set up to present a real kid with real struggles. But maybe it would be okay if parents sit down with their kid after reading this book and explain how things don't actually work that way, despite what the book says to the contrary.

Another issue I had was the way this middle-school kid, over the course of the novel (which probably I think took a school year, but certainly didn't read that way) wrote 4 or 5 novels that EVERYONE (including grownups and random strangers) loved and bought enthusiastically. I get that this is fiction, but I feel that this is giving kids a really warped perspective of the writing process. The reality is, for most people (including the greatest authors of our time) writing novels is back-breaking, heartbreaking, incredibly difficult hard work that times time and energy and so many re-writes and edits. It takes time and experience to become a good author, lots of practice, lots of fails, and lots and lots of hard work. It doesn't happen (like this book suggest) with a first draft that just APPEARS fully amazing and captivating for all audiences. Also, in reality, not everyone likes the books, and a lot of people struggle to sell their books (regardless of age, so how much odder is it that this boy's novels, printed on an old printer in his garage, were selling like crazy?). While the other unrealistic aspects of the novel bothered me but could be excused as part of "fiction," this was not acceptable. This is giving children a really unrealistic example of what writing (and selling) books is like, and I fear it will only result in a lot of potential and aspirating young authors to be discouraged and disillusioned at the first sign of hard work or bad reviews.

[Johannah A Classy Rebel Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I firmly believe that there’s no such thing as a kid who hates reading. There are kids who love reading and kids who are reading the wrong books.” ~Jimmy, Chapter 33, page 152.

(Book 2 of 100) “Laugh Out Loud” by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein is about a middle school boy named Jimmy, who wants to start his own book company. He wants to make books that kids will actually read. Just one problem: he doesn’t have any money. Shenanigans ensue as Jimmy and his friends try to earn enough money to start the company.

This is a great book for students 4th to 8th grade. I have been reading this book with one of my students and he can not stop laughing. He likes the main character’s crazy ideas and the illustrations. I enjoy the book because it encourages kids to keep reading. I will say the book is quite outlandish. The main character, Jimmy, has such an active imagination you never know if things are actually happening or if its all in his head. The author name drops a lot of book titles and movie characters, which I found interesting (a lot of the books are his own 😉). My favorite character in the book was Ms. Sprenkle, because she was one of the few adults encouraging Jimmy not to give up on his dreams. Every child needs an adult like this in their life. I give this book a 3/5. While it’s a well written children’s book, it is not my absolute favorite children’s book of all time, which is “The Tale of Despereaux” by Kate DiCamillo.

[Luz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is about a boy named Jimmy, Jimmy was a boy my age (9 years old) and what he liked most was reading books, many, many, many books (even in the bathroom he read books), well anyway, one day he realized that he wanted to make a company of children's books for children, so he started telling his friends about his idea and his friends supported him, but then he started telling everyone and none of the adults! Even his parents! They didn't believe him and said *a kid with a book company all by himself hahahahaha* but Jimmy didn't care and continued with his magnificent idea and managed to get his first copies because his parents surprisingly gave him permission to use the garage to sell his books but it was a catastrophe because it was raining too hard and there was too much wind and for a moment he gave up but his friends reminded him that he shouldn't give up and he continued with his dream then he met two extremely rich people then Jimmy asked them if they wanted to be the ones who were going to help him make his dream come true and...... they said yes! and Jimmy made that dream come true thanks to not giving up and THE END.

I like that it was fun to read.
I didn’t like that the drawings were in grey black and black.

I recommended to the people who like to laugh out loud.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patterson and Grabenstein return with another fun and playful look at middle school. This time, the theme is about not giving up on your dreams, which is definitely a great message to share with kids. The star of the book is Jimmy, who has always wanted to be a writer and to help in the process of creating middle school readers by publishing great books for kids by writing and publishing with a company that has been founded and is run by kids. This is the story of how he made this dream come true, despite parents, teachers, and other adults who laugh at the possibility.

Overall, I struggle with the book a little. Yes, the message is interesting and has a great message, but it also seems to be a novel-length commercial for all of the other books that have already been published under the Jimmy brand. This fact doesn't take away from the fun, but it is definitely a little sneaky that characters and plotlines from all the other books are introduced as Jimmy works his way toward the founding of the Jimmy publishing company. That bothers me. With that said, fans of the other books in the series will still like this one.

[Savannah Liebsack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary:
This book is about a child named Jimmy who had a dream. He wanted to start his own book company! He loved reading and always borrowed twice as many library books because he checked out some for himself and his chronically ill neighbor. He began writing his own books. Many adults laughed at his idea and almost no one except the school librarian believed in him. He faced many trials. However, people around him kept his dream alive when he was about to give up. Long story short, Jimmy's dream came true because Mr. and Mrs. Y supported him financially. He also told his class about it and everyone was shocked. Jimmy's dream came true and now writes many books based off of the people in his life.

1. What did you like best?
2. What do you predict will happen with Jimmy's book company?
3. Create a new ending to the story.
4. What changes would you make to Jimmy's adventure in starting a book company?
5. What choice would you have made if everyone laughed at your dream?

Laugh Out Loud. (2017). New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.

[Brady Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dreams, a beautiful thing when they’re on your side but when reality hits and those tables turn, will you crumble in failure or keep striving for success?
I know what your thinking; “This book seems dark and it's just about some lost adult failing.” But what if I told you it's not. Laugh Out Loud (LOL) is about a kid who has a powerful imagination filled with the thought of books.
The story involves jimmy, a twelve year old boy who has a passion to start a book company for kids run by kids, sort of like Willy Wonky And The Chocolate Factory. With all sorts of crazy ideas to make a bookstore that every kid dreams of.
The author is this book is one of my favorites; James Patterson. “There's no such thing as a kid who hates reading. There are kids who love reading, and kids who are reading the wrong books.”
-James Patterson
Patterson is one of my favorite authors because he makes sure that your head is always on a swivel and I really like that about his style. That’s why I would recommend this book.

[Gene Macy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a “great” book, it’s by one of my favorite authors for teens/ young adults, James Patterson. Its about a kid named Jimmy; who’s probably in middle school, or late elementary. He’s really into books, to the point where he decides to possibly open up his own book company, which he calls “laugh out loud” books. The whole story is about what Jimmy goes through to accomplish his goal, including great accomplishments, as well as a few small hardships along the way. I really enjoyed it. I’d definitely recommend it if you like middle grade books, or books about teens/preteens, trying to achieve a goal. I’d also Recommend it to diary of a wimpy kid fans, mostly for the illustrations. The one thing to keep in mind, this is not a book with a plot that’s specifically meant to make you laugh. (Spoiler). The main character, Jimmy wants laugh out loud to be the name of his book company.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book full of reading inspired ideas and tales. Loved the name changes of real people and all the authors and books that are brought up in the story.

I was hard to read about a young person struggling to get people to believe in his dream, I found myself having a conversation about what people had dreams of ... and at times very emotional about the dreams that slipped away. This is the strong point of the strong, never give up your dream!

Loved that real life dream killers where added, like nah sayers and IRS Taxes etc... and loved that 'Jimmy' kept up his dream and when he had doubts those friends - true friends kept his dream alive in him.

Fun read and anyone that loves books and dreams should find the read worth while!

[Sharon Layburn · Rating 3 out of 5]

4th&up
A flawed but fun tale that celebrates the joy of reading, as the main character is determined to start a publishing company that produces books that kids actually want to read.
There are my nudge-nudge, wink-wink references to people in James Patterson's world, and many of his books (though not directly named) are featured. The adults are relatively worthless, but the kids are enthusiastic, and the core audience for this book should embrace it with vigor.
Enjoy.

This book was obtained at BookExpo'17- with thanks to Jimmy Patterson & Hachette Book Group- in exchange for an honest review.

[Bev · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wouldn't go so far as to say it was awful, but this book was barely better than that. The continuous listing of books and authors, while noble and well intended, was awkward. The references to books without actually mentioning titles were more clever and satisfying. Jimmy and his friends were fun, some even endearing, and they are what made the book jump from one star to two. The story seemed it sit and spin its wheels. I liked the premise of the book a lot, so much better than the book itself. It had some great moments, but over all this book fell flat for me. I have not read any of James Patterson's other youth books.

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for young adult or really any age reader! In the story young Jimmy wants to start his own business writing books for kids by kids! If you have read any of James Patterson’s Jimmy books(Jimmy books are the label for his young adult and children books), you will instantly recognize names of his friends in this book. Laugh Out Loud ties together almost all if not all of his previous books characters together without connecting the books! It was so unique. The concept of the book is great too! Who would know what kids love better than kids! I will be sending this one on to my nephew!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok. Librarian guilty secret here. I had never read one of James Patterson’s books before this one even though the kids at my school love them. Honest truth? I absolutely loved this book!!! It is all about reading and books and kids never giving up on their dreams even if it seems impossible. It is every librarian’s dream. I will be whole-heartedly recommending this book to every reader and to every kid who tells me they don’t like to read. After all, there is no such things as a kid who doesn’t like to read. There are only kids who haven’t found the right book yet.

[Crystal W. · Rating 2 out of 5]

We listened to this on audio. I liked this book because of all the references to other books. I kept a pen handy to write down names of books for future library holds and we loved talking about past books we had already read. My kids found it humorous and entertaining. I'm not sure I really enjoyed it though. This book preaches the "follow your dreams and they will come true" philosophy pretty hard. In some ways its inspiring, but in others ways I just don't buy it and got somewhat annoyed with it.

[Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. The part were they are talking about the company I thought they were crazy. Starting a book company when you are 12 is crazy. I thought all his teachers were mean because the thought of making a company and get rich is awesome. I think you should make more of these books. They are so awesome and funny. Like the people that were billionaires . I thought they would be all dressed up but they weren’t. They were just in there pjs eating cereal watching tv. I felt bad when the parents lost there job and spent all there money on those books and they all got ruined.

[Finn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book laugh out loud by james patterson was one of my favorite books of all time, it is about successfulness and not giving up in your dream. Jimmy has always wanted to have his own book company for kids. He's made books that kids just don't want to put down but no one wants to loan money to him because he's a kid. But Eventually he meets with millionaires about his idea and they give money for him to make his dream book company come true. Not only does he have his own book company but all his pals running it with him and grownups doing some of the jobs none of the kids wanted to do.

[Marlee · Rating 1 out of 5]

This might be one of the worst books I’ve managed to get through. It was horribly dull, completely generic, and managed to be ridiculous without any fun in it. Normally when I read books for children, I try to imagine what my children would think of it, rather than just judging it by my own opinion. However, I doubt many children would find this very interesting either. The best thing about it was that it was short.