Julian, Ed and Gary are best friends, and they all love jokes. The idea for writing their own joke book comes from Julian, at least partly to get his mind off the fact that his grandmother, Mim, is dying of cancer. Jokes come thick and fast as the boys look for the best ones, and Gary, whose parents are always fighting, and Ed, who is funny and a bit wet, are just as involved as Julian. The story is told in the first person by Julian, and we meet Mim early on in the book too. Their closeness and love is apparent, as is Julian's sadness at her illness. Rosie, who has just moved to the boys' school, does the pictures for the book, and Julian finds he can talk easily with her. The printing of the joke book coincides with Mim's death, and even as she lies dying, she asks about it. Julian learns that humour and sadness can be very close. There are hints that this is a Jewish family and that Mim's relatives suffered in the Holocaust, but one must read carefully to understand this. The threads of the story come together well at the end - Julian's acceptance of his gran's death, Gary's relief at his parents' decision to divorce, and Rosie settling into school. A good read.