The Place You're Supposed To Laugh - by Jenn Stroud Rossmann (Paperback)

About the Book

THE PLACE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO LAUGH is wise and witty novel about the Silicon Valley that's not covered in the fawning features in The New York Times. In the spirit of the works of Celeste Ng and Angela Flournoy, this is a big-hearted page-turner that will make you laugh, cry, and think all at once.

Book Synopsis

It's 2002 in Silicon Valley. 9/11's still fresh, the dot-com bubble has burst, and holy calamity is raining down on 14-year-old Chad Loudermilk. His father is about to lose his job, his mother isn't the same since Chad's grandma died, and as one of the few black kids at tony Palo Alto High School, Chad's starting to wonder about his birth parents. Next door lives dot-com mogul Scot MacAvoy, with his luxury SUV and his gardeners and his beautiful wife and his time to play video games with Chad, all making the Loudermilk family's struggle to stay afloat seem that much harder. It's going to be a tough year for the Loudermilks.

THE PLACE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO LAUGH is wise and witty novel about the Silicon Valley that's not covered in the fawning features in The New York Times. It's a place where the working class, blended Loudermilk family grapple with issues of race and inequality, all while trying to keep a smile on their faces. In the spirit of the works of Celeste Ng and Angela Flournoy, this is a big-hearted page-turner that will make you laugh, cry, and think all at once.

Review Quotes

"Rossmann's chief gift as a novelist is her keen and tender-hearted social observation of a diverse and struggling cast of characters. The Place You're Supposed to Laugh is a wonderful and rich debut with a big heart."

- Heidi W. Durrow
New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

"Acutely observed, full of wit, keen insight, and compassion, The Place You're Supposed to Laugh follows an ensemble of complicated, entirely human characters, as they seek to define, or in some cases reclaim, their own identities in a radically shifting world."

--Kate Racculia
author of Bellweather Rhapsody

"It may be her debut, but Jenn Stroud Rossmann's novel shows she's a startlingly wise and insightful writer. She effortlessly weaves together the stories of the extended Loudermilk family, a rich, complicated, and loveable cast of characters. Instantly absorbing and full of life, this is a story told with humor and heart."

--Alix Ohlin
author of Inside