What do readers think of Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb? Write your own review.

If you read this book in a public place, such as a crowded commuter train or on an airplane, beware! Parts of it are so laugh-out-loud funny that I had to stop reading to wipe the tears from my eyes.

Written by genius Wally Lamb, this is the story of Felix Funicello, who is in 5th grade in the fall of 1964. (Yes, his third cousin in Annette Funicello!) Felix attends the local parochial school and after inadvertently making his teacher, Sister Dymphna, have a nervous breakdown, the class gets a long-term sub who is not a nun. And then the real fun begins. While the plot culminates in the school's Christmas show/pageant, the heart and soul of the book are in the day-to-day experiences of Felix and his friends, one of whom is a Russian girl who teaches the boys to swear in Russian (among other things!).

While it's an ideal book to read in December, it will be just as heartwarming and humorous any month of the year. If you need a distraction from your real life, read this. And enjoy the belly laughs.

Bonus: The epilogue is brilliant!

Any child of the sixties will remember the corny jokes and childish behaviors of this 5th grade boy in the Catholic School System. I laughed out loud at several of the unexpected turns of one semester in his classroom, his introduction to the new French teacher and a new Russian student. Very entertaining and light reading to spark an evening or two.